


We Saw the Same Sunset

by KelliDiane



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, It’s the 1950’s AU no one asked for, Niall is a girl in this, Socs and Greasers are a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:07:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22869853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KelliDiane/pseuds/KelliDiane
Summary: Niall sighs and stamps her bare foot against the carpet like a child. "I'll just take care of myself then, I've got a vibrator upstairs."He grabs her wrist and holds it tightly. "Nope. You waited four years, you can wait another few months."ORNiall falls in love with a social outcast. It changes everyone’s lives for the better.
Relationships: Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne/Sophia Smith, Niall Horan/Zayn Malik
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	We Saw the Same Sunset

Niall thanks her brother for the ride, kissing his cheek and trying not to laugh when there's the faint imprint of red lipstick on his skin. She licks her thumb and tries to wipe it off, "forgot I put gloss on before we left."

She's stalling a bit, nervous and anxious thinking about having to start at a new school in a new country. Not necessarily about making friends or anything, she's always been good at that, but with academia and having to learn a new, most likely unfamiliar curriculum. "I'll give you ten pounds if you drive us to the diner, and pretend I went to school."

"Niall, you know I would love to, but dad specifically asked me to ensure that you actually made it to your first day." Greg says with a small smile as he unlocks the door. "Go make some friends. You're so charismatic, you'll be fine."

"I'll see you after then." Niall is careful to get out, making sure the red skirt stays at her knees rather than ride up. She smooths down her hair with the palm of her hand and puts on her best smile, heading towards the building.

Louis is leaning against the school wall with Zayn, smoking a cigarette when he spots her. "Oh, damn. Look what pulled up today- a young Virgin Mary in disguise." He smoothes down the side of his ridiculously gelled quiff and straightens his leather jacket before whistling at the new meat. "Hey, Cherry! Can we see a bit more? Girl, come on over and play!"

Niall looks up and crinkles her nose, it takes her a minute to realize they're talking to her. Not one to ever turn down the chance to make a friend she heads over, smiling softly. "Hello, I'm Niall. I'm new."

Louis looks her over slowly. "Niall? Nah. Just doesn't suit you. I'm just gonna call you Cherry."

The dark figure beside Louis stirs as he sighs and looks up to see the girl's face. Smoke creeps from between his lips as he exhales the dangerous carcinogens into the air. "I'm Zayn and that's Louis. So what's a pretty girl like you doing talking to greasers like us, sweet thing?"

"Greasers? Is that a band or something?" She looks between the two, confusion evident. They never had 'greasers' back home.

"Oh, she's so innocent." Louis says with a predatory grin. He reaches out and grabs lightly at the red material of her skirt. "Want to find out what greasers are really like, Cherry?"

Niall instinctually swats his hand away when he tries to lift it up, she's definitely not interested in this. "No thank you, I'd rather my skirt stay at my knees."

"Aw, come on. Bet you never even had a soc before. Let me show you some fun before they take you away."

"Louis, enough." Zayn says with a hint of annoyance in his tone. "You, Niall, should get to class. Wouldn't want a pretty thing like you falling into the wrong hands."

"I'll see you both later then." Niall walks off and can't help but feel like that entire conversation had been odd, she's never heard of greasers or socs or anything of the sort. 

She walks down the hallways until she spots a few girls dressed similarly to her. "Hello, I'm Niall and I'm new here. Do any of you think you could tell me where room one hundred and ten is?"

A blonde turns around and gives her a once over before smiling brightly. "Of course! That's English with Mister Cowell. I have him during first block. I'm Taylor by the way." She sticks her hand out in greeting.

"It's nice to meet you." Niall ends up standing and talking with the group until she remembers something. "Oh uh, do any of you know what a greaser is?"

Taylor frowns. "A greaser? A dirty, disgusting, lowlife who isn't worth our time." She shrugs before looking at her watch. "We need to go or we'll be late."

Niall frowns but follows after the leggy blonde. What’s wrong with greasers?

Once in the classroom, Taylor pulls her to the right side of the classroom. "Over here. The other side is for greasers. We don't sit there."

Niall nods automatically, it's not until Taylor takes a seat does she realize there isn't enough. "Oh uh, I guess I'll just sit over there then."

The bell rings and the teacher comes in. He hangs his coat up and scans the room. "Alright class, take your seats."

A boy with wide brown eyes turns towards Niall. "Here, you can have my seat. I'll brave the greasers for you."

"They can't be that bad, they're people." Niall jokes and looks back over to the leather clad clan of teens.

"Barely," the boy says as he grabs his books and smiles. He nods lightly before taking the seat between two greaser girls.

Niall shrugs and sits down, hoping to avoid having to introduce herself to the class. She's outgoing sure but she's good with people individually not so much when it comes to groups.

The class passes by with no further ruckus and as soon as the bell rings, the boy is back at Niall's side. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."

"Niall, sorry about that." She smiles and slides her things into her bag.

“And I’m Liam.” He swings his bag over his shoulder, ready to take hers for her should he need to. “So what do you have next?”

Niall smiles and walks with him, he's a cute guy now that she's really looking at him. "Maths, how about you?"

Liam frowns. "History. Who's your teacher?" He slowly walks her towards the maths hallway.

"Howell." Niall looks at the schedule in her hand then up at Liam, smiling.

"That's a mainly greaser class. Be careful." Liam says with a sigh. He looks into the room and and crinkles his nose in disgust. "Ugh Tomlinson and Malik are in there."

"I met them earlier, they seem like nice lads...kinda." Niall is admittedly annoyed about the skirt thing as well as the obvious flirting, but other then that she still doesn't see what's so bad about greasers.

Louis sees the new girl at the door and smiles brightly. "Oi! Cherry, I got a seat with your name on it."

Niall is a little hesitant but sits down, setting her bag by her legs. "Like I said earlier, my name is Niall."

Zayn snorts. "He's never going to call you anything other than Cherry."

"If it makes you feel better, he calls me Kiwi." A skinny brunette makes her way over and slinks into the boy's lap.

"Kiwi?" Niall doesn't hide her confusion. At least her nickname made sense with her cherry red skirt, lipstick, and shiny flats.

"Louis loves handing out nicknames. I'm Sophia and she's Eleanor." The girl, Sophia, smiles and flicks her hair over her shoulder.

"It helps that I have a star tattoo down on my hip bone." Eleanor laughs as she kisses Louis' cheek.

Zayn yawns. "Wonder how he found out about that one."

"How about you soc," Sophia asks, "any hidden tattoos anywhere?"

Niall shakes her head. "What is a soc? I barely know what a greaser is."

"A soc, my dear Cherry, is a young wealthy socialite. You, because of the way you present yourself and the way you dress, have officially been labeled a soc." Louis says with a shrug.

Eleanor nods. "If you trade in that poodle skirt and blouse for a tighter, more sensual outfit and tease your hair out a bit you'd be a greaser."

"I've always dressed like this." Niall shrugs and looks at her clothes, so the socs and greasers are just cliques.

"Guess you're a soc then. You best not be seen talking to us." Zayn says with a yawn as the class is called to order.

"Think I should be able to decide who I talk to. Have a mind of my own." Niall shrugs and falls silent as the teacher begins.

Louis grins and whispers in Eleanor's ear for the girl to move so he could sit next to the new girl. "So, Cherry, why are you so hesitant to let me show you a good time, huh?"

"Because I'm not up to sleeping with anyone any time soon." Niall rolls her eyes.

"Really? That's a shame. I'm sure you'd know exactly how to pleases guy." His hand rests at her knee for a moment before pushing her skirt up under the desk and resting on her upper, inner thigh.

Niall pushes his arm away much like she'd done earlier. "Don't push it. Are all greasers like you?"

Louis pouts. "Most of them. Don't worry, Cherry. I'll be gentle if that's what's worrying you."

"I'm not going to have sex with you." Niall hisses, she's starting to get irritated.

Zayn sighs. "Louis, she's not interested. Knock it off." He looks to the blonde, a bored look upon his face. "He's harmless. He's just a little unbalanced when it comes to his hormones."

Niall sighs, and glares at Louis one last time. "He's a pervert is what he is."

"Don't worry, princess. I'll protect you." Zayn says sarcastically. He knows it won't matter. She'll soon be with the soc crowd.

"I don't need anyone to protect me, I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself." Niall rolls her eyes, she's not a damsel in distress.

\------------

Niall heads into the cafeteria, laughing at something Taylor says with her money in her hand to go to the lunch line. So far things hadn't been all that bad for her first day.

"So I told Eleanor to get her skanky little hands off my designer blouse. I swear, one day I’m going to hold that little greaser down and shave her hair off." Taylor says with a roll of her eyes.

"She doesn't seem that bad." Eleanor was actually pretty nice, Niall still didn't understand the needless hostility.

Taylor looks at the new girl in disgust. "That bad? She's a whore. She's given it up to Tomlinson so many times."

Niall stays quiet, even if she has every instinct to argue. All the hate just seems completely irrational. "Is the food good here?"

It's halfway through lunch when Sean comes up to the table. "Um, hi. I noticed that you were new here. Would you like to maybe catch a movie tomorrow night and get to know each other?"

Niall looks up at the boy and smiles, she's always up for friends. "Yeah, I'd love to. Any movie in mind or just whatever is playing?"

"Whatever is playing. I think tomorrow is a double feature." Sean smiles shyly. "Oh, I'm Sean by the way."

"I'm Niall, it's nice to meet you." She beams up at him, he was dressed nicely, probably a soc.

"Perfect! I'll pick you up at like six tomorrow then." He waves and heads back over to his table.

Taylor beams. "You'll fit in so nicely here. I wonder if he'll offer you his letterman jacket!"

"Is that a big deal?" Niall's old school was nothing like this, everyone generally got on and there were no Letterman jackets or socs or greasers.

"That's a huge deal! That's like, the second greatest thing a guy can do! The first is him giving you his ring, that means you're going steady." Taylor squeals. "Remember when I had Harry's ring before he became a greaser?"

Perrie nods her head, "it was so beautiful. I was there when the whole thing happened but then Harry started hanging around Zayn and bought a leather jacket and hair gel. It was tragic."

Somehow Niall thinks it wasn't that tragic, but she keeps that to herself.

"He was the perfect boy." Taylor says wistfully. She wipes at a pretend tear before sighing. "So, Niall, I heard you had a class with all greasers. It's a wonder you're still alive. How'd it go?"

"Good, they didn't bother me." If she told them the truth they'd probably have a lot to say and she's not up to hearing about it.

Taylor nods approvingly. "Good. At least Tomlinson didn't try to molest you."

"Yeah, he kept his hands to himself." Niall is so glad when the lunch bell rings.

\------------

Niall sets her bag by the front door and slips off her shoes, heading towards the kitchen for an after school snack. It was a very interesting first two day of classes to say the least. 

She wipes her lipstick off on a paper towel, grabbing a wrapped up muffin from the bowl set up on the kitchen island, smiling when she sees both her parents already there, dad reading the newspaper and her mum listening to the radio and drinking a brewed cup of coffee. "Hey, guys."

"Niall, love. How was your first two days of school? Anything interesting?" Maura says as she gets up to hug her daughter. "There's a fresh batch of cookies in the cookie jar if you prefer something sweeter."

"No thank you, but school went well. It's... Different." She tosses the plastic in a bin and tears off a piece.

Maura pours her daughter a cup of milk to go with her muffin. "Different how? Is it a good different? Did you make any friends?"

"I made a lot of friends just, I don't know the kids here actually care about who they talk to, what other people wear and all that. I'm not used to it." 

"Don't let that affect you, Niall. Appearances don't matter," Bobby says, his eyes still firmly glued on the paper.

"Your father's right, dear. They don't matter at all. Remember back in Mullingar? Your best friend Eoghan dressed like a homeless chap, but he was still extremely pleasant." Maura says, trying to be helpful.

That surprises a laugh out of Niall. "Mum! Not very nice you know."

Maura chuckles herself. "I'm sorry. You know I don't understand all the latest trends."

Greg heads into the kitchen and picks up an apple. "So what's this I hear about a new girl named Cherry at your school?"

Niall rolls her eyes. "Some silly nickname a boy gave me. I told him my name, but he calls me Cherry. How'd you hear about that?"

"I took my car into the garage for a tune up and the guy working on it had a friend come in talking all about this Cherry girl." Greg shrugs as he bites into the juicy fruit.

"A boy? A nickname? Well, who is he? Come on, darling. Tell all! Is he cute?" Maura says like teenage girl all over again. She was starting to worry Niall would never seem interested in a boy.

Niall groans. "Just a friend, there's nothing going on between us. I am however going to see a movie with another boy tonight."

"Oh?" Maura is still excited, bouncing in her seat like a small child.

"Again nothing to be excited over. He's a nice boy, but there's nothing going on." Niall loves friends, prefers them. She just isn't one to fuss or care about going steady and all that.

Maura frowns. "Any other boys that are just friends that we should know about?"

"A few more, but that's about it in the way of boys." She finishes her milk and wipes her lip on a napkin.

There's a knock on the door that interrupts everything. "Who in the world is knocking at five thirty in the evening? Bobby, answer the door."

Bobby sets his paper down and stands, making his way to the entryway and opening the front door. "Hello?"

Sean is there, his hands buried in his letterman jacket pockets. "Oh, um, hello, sir. I'm here to pick up Niall for the drive in."

"Right, right. Niall, a boy named Sean is here for you." He shoots him a look, something along the lines of 'don't mess with her' before he disappears.

"I'll be back later tonight." Niall shrugs her coat and shoes on heading out to Sean's truck. "Thanks again for inviting me out."

"Definitely. I know how overbearing Taylor can be so I figured we could get to know each other so you have a second option of tables to sit at at lunch." Sean says with a smile as he opens the car door for her.

"She's an interesting character." Niall climbs in after saying thank you. It's weird she thinks, the ride with Sean is a bit awkward but she chalks it up to not being familiar with each other.

Sean taps his fingers against the steering wheel at a red light. "So... It's a comedy and then a musical. Hope that's okay."

"Yeah, I like cheerful things. As long as it's not sad or anything of the sort." Niall can't deal with that sort of stuff, always puts her in a bad mood which Greg would always make fun of her for.

"Good."

It's silent the rest of the way to the drive in and while Sean pays and parks his car. "Do you maybe want to go grab a bite to eat? I get hungry when I'm nervous." He smiles sheepishly over at the girl.

Niall wants to ask what he's nervous about, they're just seeing a movie but she smiles and nods. Niall's never been one to really say or ask what's on her mind. "Yeah, I could go for something to eat."

"Perfect! Stay here and I'll go get it." Sean says as he starts to sprint away.

A few minutes later, there's a disturbance down the row of cars. "Oi! Oi, Cherry! Harry, that's Cherry! That's the girl I was telling you about!"

Niall looks up from where she's turned the radio on to see Louis, Zayn, and some strange boy standing together near an impala. That nickname she swears will cause her eyes to roll out of her head.

The three boys amble up to the car and Louis is smiling brightly. "Hey, Cherry pop. Nice cardigan; bet you'd look better without it."

"Lou..." Zayn sighs and just lights up another cigarette.

Niall rolls her eyes, a habit she's becoming accustomed to. "Is there ever a time you don't think about a female taking her clothes off?"

The third boy grins. "Feisty, I like it. My name is Harry."

Louis looks offended. "Of course! When she already has them off, I'm thinking about how to make her scream my name."

"You're insufferable." Niall reaches for the hand crank to roll the window up, this is the last thing she wants to discuss.

Zayn places his hand on the glass to stop the motion. "Wait. Who are you here with? Family? Maybe one of the girls?"

"A boy. He invited me to come to the double feature." In fact she looks around wondering where he was.

"A soc?" Zayn huffs and glares hard at the ground. "Well, it's been lovely chatting with you. Next time we talk, you'll probably be hurling insults at me. Fucking socs."

It's that moment that Sean reappears with the food. "Malik, stop talking to her. You corrupted too many beautiful young women. You're not adding her to your bedpost collection."

'I still don't understand this pointless rivalry' it's what she wants to say, but she doesn't. "Sean just forget it, let's enjoy the movie."

Zayn huffs and heads back to his car.

"Sorry about them. Out of all the greasers, those three are the worst. They just want to get into your panties and then dump you hard." Sean sighs and hands her a hotdog and fries before passing her the strawberry malt he got for her.

Niall took the brightly colored milkshake starting to suck it through the straw. Things were going pretty well as the movie began. Niall laughed at all the funny bits, trying to eat without choking.

It's maybe fifteen minutes into the second movie when Sean looks over at her out of the corner of his eye. He glances up and down her frame before smiling to himself. He lets out a giant yawn and stretches his arms with the motion, dropping one on her far shoulder and tugging her lightly towards him. "Getting a bit late, eh?"

Niall scoots over on instinct, watching the group on screen break out into another pointless song. "I suppose, not really tired though."

"Mmmm," is all he says back. He rubs his thumb gently over her skin before letting his entire hand run across the pale expanse of her arm. "Chilly? You have goosebumps."

"Cause you're touching me." Niall chuckles, although it's too nervous to be anything other than a puff of air.

Sean hums as the musical number ends. He slowly and carefully moves his hand till he's cupping her breast in his hand. "Maybe I can touch you a little more, yeah?"

"S-Sean." Niall stutters. This isn't what she thought was going to happen, she thought they were just enjoying the movies together. "I don't, no."

"Come on. No one's looking. It'll be great. Bet you'll really love it." He turns more towards her and places a hand in her lap. "Come on, doll. Better me than one of those greasers."

"I thought we just came to watch movies, as friends." She tries stressing the word, God this is getting too uncomfortable.

"We can be friends after this. Just one night. Come on, babe." He leans in, pressing his lips against hers.

Niall leans far back to get away, only to end up falling over. This can't be happening. "Sean, please just take me home."

He huffs. "No way. Come on, babe. Just let me see you at least. Hike up your skirt or something. You're such a prude."

Niall sits up, crossing her arms over her chest. "Sean, I'm serious. Take me home now."

"No way. If you aren't going to put out, then get out." Sean says angrily as he reaches over her to unlock the door.

"You're an asshole!" Niall tosses her milkshake at him climbing out of his truck in a flurry of anger. Why are all guys perverts?

She tugs her cardigan closer to her body, starting to walk towards the exit. It's dark now and Niall doesn't want to walk alone, but she has no way getting in touch with anyone.

The wind picks up a bit, blowing hard and cold as the leaves rattle on their branches. The darkened street is dotted with street lamps, but none of them seem to be in proper working order as they flicker on and off as she walks. The houses along the street are dark except for a glow that shows some maybe up late watching television.

It's the sound of jovial singing and car tires squealing that really feels out of place. "Hey! Hey, Niall!"

Niall shrinks a bit, looking up towards the voices calling her name. There's an instant flood of relief when she recognizes the faces.

Zayn's looks her over before frowning. "Where's your boyfriend? Not very chivalrous of him to let you walk home alone in the dark."

Louis smiles brightly. "Oi! We'll give you a ride! We even have a whole bottle of whiskey if you'd like some. Sharing is caring after all."

"He's not my boyfriend. Made me walk because I didn't want to have sex with him." There's obvious disgust on her voice, this is her problem with boys, this is why she's never interested. Sex, and the whole idea of sex just made her feel weird.

"And the socs think we're dicks? We at least never send a lady home alone." Louis climbs into the back seat of the convertible and pats the headrest. "Get in, Cherry."

Niall hesitates, but it's not like she really had a choice or anything. She'd rather be with them then strangers coming across her. Niall gets into the car, buckling her seatbelt and trying to keep her sniffling to a minimum.

It's a ride full of drunk singing by Louis and Harry in the backseat until Zayn drops them both off and it's suddenly really quiet.

The silent member of the trio clears his throat. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry that Sean turned out to be a massive twat. You two looked cute together."

"I didn't want to date him or anything, I'm not interested in that to be honest with you." It's never something that appealed to her.

"I completely understand. Louis is all about the next shag and Harry is always about finding his soulmate. Me? I'm just... Here. Biding my time till I can move away and start my art and writing career." He shrugs as he slowly creeps along, unsure of where she lived.

"I mean, I guess it would be nice and all, but I'm not sure if I'd find the right person." She directs him towards her home, making sure to tell him where to turn and what not.

He nods in agreement with her. "Exactly. What if I get attached to someone and they end up not being the one? I feel like it would hurt too much."

"Well more along the lines of their are no decent human beings left so why even try?"

"Wow... Even that's too cynical for me." Zayn says with a small laugh.

"Well like Sean is a perfect example. He didn't come across as anything other than genuine but he only asked me to see a movie because he wanted to have sex. It's like there isn't more to me other than my twat." Niall can't help chuckle along with Zayn.

Zayn pulls up in her driveway, nodding and smiling. "Girls aren't much better. I'm sorry, I want to discuss the merit of authors and poets, not get my dick wet all the time."

"Literature, I know a thing or two about that." Niall opens the door, thanking Zayn for the millionth time.

Zayn smiles brightly. "Any time. And if you ever want to debate poets or authors, I'm your guy."

"I'll make sure to look for you." Niall gets out and shuts the door, heading towards her home.

Greg is in the living room when she enters, working on maths. "So, how'd it go? Is he perfect? Dreamy? Amazing?"

"He was a complete and total ass." Niall can't help scowl just thinking about Sean.

"Then why were you smiling just now?" Greg asks slightly confused.

"The guy made me walk and someone else offered me a ride home, he wanted to talk about literature."

Greg nods his head lightly. "Well, good for the second guy. He's sounds like someone you'd hang out with."

"Yeah, he's a nice lad." Niall tosses her cardigan in the hamper before coming back out and sitting on the couch.

The boy packs up his books and stretches before sitting next to his sister. "Mum wouldn't shut up about your date."

"What was she saying?" Niall wonders how any of them would feel if she told him how he felt her up and she said no, if that would keep her mum from being disappointed.

"Just kept telling dad that she was so happy that you finally started to notice guys and how she wasn't worried about you being alone anymore." Greg says with a shrug.

Niall laughs, her mum was always worried over the silliest things honestly. "I'm sure, possibly one day in the future, I might find someone. But as of right now that is the least of my concerns. Besides shouldn't they be happy that I'm not fooling around or something?"

"Think dad is worried you'll want to go to college for your MRS degree." The male says with a yawn as he looks at the clock.

"I'll go to college but for something like literature or science or something." Sometimes her parents worried about the weirdest things.

Greg shrugs. "It's up to you, but right now, we need to head to bed for high school."

"Right, right. Need to be rested when braving hell." It's not that bad, but Niall laughs at her own joke and pinches Greg when he doesn't.

\------------

Niall enters the cafeteria a bit late having told Taylor she had to talk to the teacher about an assignment, but in actuality she needed a break. She needed to breath properly without feeling so suffocated. 

She looks around and smiles when she sees Zayn and them. She effortlessly slides into the seat across from Zayn. "Hey. Uh, thanks again for the ride last night."

Zayn looks up from his lunch, surprised to see the girl openly communicating with him in public. "Oh, um, yeah. No problem."

Louis looks between the two in interest before smiling widely. "So, what did you crazy cats get up to after Harry and I left? Anything exciting?"

"No we just made small talk, pretty exciting I guess." Niall laughs lightly and smiles, she feels like Zayn wouldn't want the others to know about his love for literature.

"Did he show you his massive schlong? I swear, this guy is gifted in that department." Louis says with a raise of his eyebrows.

Zayn rolls his eyes and glares over at Louis. "If you must know, we discussed life and found a mutual love for literature."

Niall can't help but shutter. "There was nothing sexual about it, you pervert. It was the best conversation I've had since coming out here."

Louis makes a disgusted face. "Literature? Man, you need to come down from that cloud. Those college board types will take one look at you and never accept you."

Zayn stays quiet and diverts this attention to the table. "I know. I just... I want to at least try."

Niall frowns, can't help but glare a little at Louis. "And why the hell not? If he's got the passion and knowledge then he's a perfect candidate."

"You really don't get how the world works do you?" Louis says softly. He knows how cruel the hierarchy of the world can be. He's watched friend after friend apply for college, only to be turned away at the personal interview for a soc with a lower GPA.

"That's not how it was in Ireland though! No one cared about cliques and clothes, none of it! I don't get it." Niall sighs, it's all sad really.

Zayn sighs and shrugs. He wishes he was Irish, but he knows that being Irish and a greaser would be worse. "Welcome to England. Where your background and social standing are everything. Let's be honesty, if you didn't have money, the socs would call you some pretty horrific names."

"Which is pretty fucking lame if you ask me. Friends should be your friends no matter what!" Niall is getting sick of this place and its only been a week.

Zayn looks to Louis and just shrugs. This is all they've ever known. The thing people care about around here is what side of the tracks were you born on and how many zeros were in your daddy's paycheck. "It's a novel concept, but money makes the world turn."

"Yeah, besides, do you actually see people like Zayn and Liam or Eleanor and Taylor getting on? It's all just wishful thinking." Louis can't imagine a life without the greaser and soc rivalry.

"I'm sitting here and we're getting on just fine. If people actually tried things wouldn't be so hard." Niall turns a little to see that people are whispering and looking her way, of course.

"It's just not how things are done." Zayn shrugs, trying to end the conversation. He doesn't like all the attention being directed at their small table.

Niall notices the look on Zayn's face and she can't help but narrow her eyes a little, not trying to keep the disbelief out of her voice. "You care too, don't you?"

Picking up the discomfort of his friend, Louis clears his throat. "Niall, not here."

"You all care. That is so-" Niall cuts herself off and stands, disgusted. She stalks off towards her next period angrily.

The halls are quiet as Niall storms through them since everyone is at lunch and the teachers are in the break room. There's a distinctive giggle coming from one of the empty classrooms though.

"Soph, you have to stay quiet." Liam whispers as he tries his hardest not to laugh with her. He presses his lips to her own softly as he stands between her legs. He runs his hands through her teased out mess of hair and smiles softly at her. "I missed you."

Niall stops and watches, she's just irritated and watching Liam and Sophia are making her angrier. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Liam snaps his head up, worried about who might be seeing them. He relaxes only slightly when he sees its the new girl. "Oh, um, Niall... Hi?"

"You're kidding right? Why is everyone here the fucking same?" Niall's hands are balled into fists and if she could hit something without hurting herself she would.

Liam looks back at Sophia, confusion written on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"If you love each other, why are you hiding? Because she's a greaser and you're a soc? Why does that have any fucking significance? Why do people care so much! If you really loved each other you wouldn't care!"

"Calm down, Niall. We don't need any attention on us. Maybe we just don't think rocking the boat is a big deal." Liam says with a shrug. He looks to Sophia and thinks of the plans they've made. They're going to leave this town and see the country.

"But it shouldn't even rock the boat! I can't believe any of you. You're all so, so." Niall can't even find the right insult.

"Selfish? I don't think you have much room to talk. You don't know anything about us or this town. Who are you come in here and try to change everything?" Liam says, aggravated with this girl's holier than thou attitude.

Niall's face is red and she doesn't really know what to say. It's not like things will just suddenly change because of her but it's so frustrating and annoying and Niall wishes people would see how stupid they're all being.

\------------

Niall has finally calmed down since lunch but she's still pissed, just doing better hiding it. She takes her seat in class next to Taylor and the other socs, although really she's not sure which side she'd rather be on.

Taylor looks at her. "Um, Niall, you can't sit there. That's reserved for a soc and you clearly aren't one. You can go sit with the greasers."

Niall furrows her eyebrows. "What are you on about? Not this garbage again."

"Sean told us that you were talking to them last night and then you sat with them at lunch. You seem like a nice enough girl, but you're obviously a greaser." Taylor says with distain.

Niall laughs, she can't believe what she's hearing from her so called friend. "Alright, but who's in charge of telling me where to sit? If I want to sit at a greaser table I will. I want to sit my ass right here in this goddamn seat I will."

Zayn looks up from his notebook at the sound of the commotion. "Niall, I saved you a seat over here." He indicates the empty desk next to him.

"This is, you're all absolutely ridiculous. Ridiculous." Niall shakes her head and stalks across to the other side of room.

The teacher enters soon after and starts the class. Zayn just watches the girl next to him before tearing a paper from his notebook and scribbling a note to her. 'You okay? I'm sorry for what happened at lunch. I hate attention and there was just too much of it directed at our table.'

'I don't know why you care. I honestly don't know why anyone does. I don't even have friends and I still don't care.'

'You have friends. Louis, Eleanor, Sophia, me... We're your friends, Niall. I know you look more like Taylor, but you belong with us.' Zayn folds the paper and places it on her desk.

Niall grabs the paper and she tries not to scoff. 'I don't belong with anyone. I shouldn't have to belong anywhere.'

Zayn frowns and looks over to the girl he considers a friend. 'You belong with us because you're kind and sweet and nothing at all like those snooty, stuck up, whores. I promise you, you'll love being friends with us. Let me show you.'

\------------

Niall looks around the dingy hangout, crossing her legs and fixing the hem of her dress. She felt odd, like she didn't belong here watching almost everyone get drunk and joke around.

Zayn is next to her, arm slung around the back of the couch behind her but a respectable distance away from her actual shoulder. He's holding a cup of soda pop in his hand and sipping it every now and then. "So how about that literature discussion?"

Niall hums, tipping her head back resting it against his hand. "Who's your favorite author, genre, all that."

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hands down, the best author ever. I love a good mystery that I have to think about." Zayn says with a shrug. "How about you?"

"I can see you reading Sherlock." It fits, Zayn is sort of mysterious. "Would it be cliche to say Jane Austen and Robert Frost?"

The boy chuckles. "I little. Sounds like a hopeless romantic to me." He smiles warmly over at her. "What's your favourite Austen novel?"

"Probably Emma or Northanger Abby. I'd say I like the idea of romance, but I'm not a romantic."

Zayn smiles softly. "I'm excited that you love literature. This is absolutely amazing. None of the guys will talk about it because they don't get it."

"It's brilliant, the worlds authors can create." Niall thinks about how many times books have been there when she was bored, lonely, and any other emotion really.

"Exactly! No matter what clique or social class you're in, they're there for you. It's amazing how much they can cheer you up." Zayn says excitedly as he realise that she's actually into literature and not just humouring him.

"You can be anything you want, can imagine yourself with the characters and everything is vivid." Niall chuckles watching Harry and Louis try to drunkenly do handstands.

Zayn just looks at her like she's the key to the mystery of the universe. "Where have you been all my life?" He chuckles afterwards, but he's really curious.

"In Ireland." Niall shrugs and grins broadly.

"You should have grown up here with me." Zayn says with a chuckle. He downs the rest of his drink and looks at the girl. "You wanna get out of here?"

Niall wonders where they would go but Zayn's looking at her and it makes her stomach twist. "Yeah, yeah I'd like that."

Zayn smiles and gets up, extending his hand to her. "There's a park down the street. There's too much smoke in here right now."

Niall latches onto his hand and stands up, letting their fingers curl together without thinking about it. "Think that sounds lovely."

The boy smiles and leads the way outside and to the park. "So, did you really mean what you said at lunch the other day?"

"I said a lot, have to be more specific." Niall shivers, she should have brought something heavier than a cardigan.

"I guess it was more what you said in class. You said you really didn't have any friends. I really hope that's not true because I consider us friends and I kind of need you to balance out the idiot that is Louis." Zayn says as he slips off his leather jacket and drapes it around her shoulders.

Niall takes the jacket, can smell the aftershave Zayn uses. "I was just angry. I don't expect things to change. It's probably been this way forever, but I hate it."

Zayn slings an arm around her shoulder as he steers them near the swings. "It would help if the socs weren't the only people on the county council or the only people the police hired. It's like it's all stacked against us."

"That sucks. That really sucks." Niall shakes her head and leans into him a little.

"It's alright. We're used to it." He shrugs and looks down at her with a soft smile. "Do you want me to push you on the swing? My little sister tells me I'm excellent at that skill."

Niall snorts and nods, settling into the rubber seat. "So you love Sherlock and push your sister on swings. I don't get why people want me to stay away from you."

"Because at school, I have a reputation of being violent. I mean, it was only once and I apologised after, but some soc thought no meant yes and Eleanor was like his project." Zayn shrugs as he pulls the swing back a bit and pushes it forward.

"But you were protecting her. You wouldn't really hit someone if they didn't deserve it." She hasn't known him for long, but she knows he's not like that.

Zayn laughs. "I've given up trying to correct the socs. Besides, they usually leave me and my friends alone now. The only one who still acknowledges us is that Liam kid."

"Yeah... Would you ever date a soc?" Niall can't stop thinking about Liam and Sophia.

"I don't see why not. As long as there's a good connection and it's not because they want to change me." Zayn continues to push her slowly on the swing. "That's what I told Sophia when she asked me about Liam."

"So you know then?" Niall looks over her shoulder at him, and she doesn't understand why she feels relieved when he said he would go out with a soc.

"She needs to talk to someone every now and then. She said Eleanor just laughed and thought it was a joke." He catches the swing and looks down at her smiling softly.

Niall leans up, almost falling off until she's adjusted her posture. She's never felt like this, never really been interested in dating or anything like that but with Zayn she feels like there's a weight on her heart, and her hands grab his neck until she's kissing him timidly.

Zayn is a bit shocked, but kisses back nonetheless. He makes sure to keep it soft and chaste, not wanting to scare her away. He pulls back, smiling at her. "Maybe we should move to the bench. That can't be comfortable for you."

Niall nods awestruck, laughing as she gets off the swing almost catching her foot in the seat and falling. "So I didn't scare you?"

He shakes his head as he pulls her over towards the bench. "Never. I was shocked at first, but I rather enjoyed it."

Niall takes her seat, slipping her arms through the leather jacket draped over her shoulders to keep it from falling off. "Come on then, show me what you got."

Zayn smiles and surges forward, pressing their lips together with more force than last time. He runs his tongue along the seam of her lips, begging for entry.

Niall hesitates, pulls back a little so she can open her mouth without his tongue going in. "I've never you know, done," she gestures between them, "this."

He has the decency to blush. "Sorry. You said show me what you got so I thought like maybe you had so I was trying to like... I'm an idiot. We can go to soft kisses. I'm definitely okay with that."

Niall laughs and kisses him, "I'm sorry I'm just weird and out of sorts about that whole thing. I just have to get used to it, you know?"

"No, it's fine. Definitely understand." Zayn says in assurance. "I completely get that."

"But kissing is okay." Niall ducks her head and smiles, her fingers poking at Zayn's and slipping in between them.

Zayn smiles and squeezes her fingers lightly. "So, just so I'm sure not to cross the boundary of not okay, you mean like soft gentle kisses or like hungry desperate kisses?"

"Soft kisses. Maybe if this continues we can work on the whole tongue bit." Niall wiggles her tongue to emphasize her point, smiling around the appendage.

He laughs and leans down to kiss her once more once her tongue is put away. "Good. I like soft kisses best. They feel more intimate."

Niall grins against his lips, kissing him a little more firmly. "I like you, a lot."

"I like you a lot as well. I'm really glad Louis decided to harass you your first day. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn't." Zayn pulls her closer, just holding her and admiring the way his jacket looked around her.

Niall kisses him again, noses bumping against each other with her arms around his shoulders.

"Get some!" Harry laughs drunkenly, trying to whistle around his fingers only to slobber all over them.

Zayn sighs and looks over at his friend. "What do you want, Harry?"

"You gettin it in, Zayn?" Harry tries wiggling his eyebrows, spilling half his drink when he stumbles a little.

"Looks like I need to drive them home." He kisses Niall once more. "Do you need a ride home too?"

"If you wouldn't mind." Niall sidles up next to Zayn, laughing every time Louis and Harry almost fall.

\------------

Niall opens the front door and smiles when she sees Zayn standing there, leaning in the entryway. "Hey! Glad you came, I got some new poetry books and I thought you'd like to check them out with me."

Really she just wanted an excuse for Zayn to come over, lately she's been feeling weird about him, she thinks she's crushing on him.

"Yeah. I'd love that." He steps inside and takes his jacket off. "Is it a single author or multiple ones?"

"Well three books I got are from specific authors and the last one is multiple." She hesitantly takes his hand and leads him towards the stairs, "hope you don't mind being in my room."

Zayn's eyes widen, but he nods nonetheless. "Yeah, no. That's perfect. What about your parents? Will they mind?"

"Nah, they'd probably love it if I had a guy, would encourage it." She pushes the door open to her spacious bedroom.

"Whoa," he looks at her room in awe. "This is like the size of my whole first floor of my house."

Niall blushes, can feel her cheeks get hot, leaving her door halfway open. "Alright you can sit on the sofa, there's a mini fridge over there if you want anything."

Maura knocks on the door. "Niall, I need your hamper. It's laundry- oh. Who's this?"

Zayn stands up and wipes his hands on his jeans. "Uh, I'm Zayn. It's nice to meet you Missus Horan."

"Mum, this is my good friend from school." There's a goofy smile on her face and her eyes might shine a little.

"Well, it's nice too meet you." Maura smiles politely until she catches sight of Niall's face. "Oh... I'll bring you some snacks."

Once she's gone, Zayn smiles at Niall. "She's easy to please. Hope your dad is just as easy to win over."

"If you have some Guinness hiding in your jacket, but really as long as you're respectful he'll like you." She sits cross legged on the pastel blue couch with her books in her lap.

He joins her on the couch and leans over to drop a kiss to her temple. "So which book do you want to start with it?"

Niall kisses Zayn, focuses more on that then actually reading her book. There's that same weird pull in her stomach. "I like you, a lot."

Zayn laughs lightly against her lips. "You've told me before. It's okay. I like you a lot more than I should for how little I've known you."

"No, I mean, I really like you." This is more than an attraction, Niall thinks she might actually want a relationship.

He stares down at her and smiles softly. "I really like you too." He rests his forehead against hers and bumps their noses together before going in for a long and drawn out kiss to try and convey his feelings.

Niall lets her fingers crawl up his arms, squeezing his biceps, unaware that her bedroom door was basically open.

Zayn makes a pleased noise in the back of his throat and shifts so that he's reclining back on the couch with Niall in his lap. He brings a hand up and run his fingers through her long hair, cupping the back of her head to keep her close.

"Good friend indeed." Maura says from the doorway as she makes her presence known. She has a tray of fresh cookies and tea in her hands for the two.

Niall turns beet red, looking up at her mum. "Uh, yeah, um... Yeah."

"Niall, can I have a word with you in the hall real quick?" Maura tries her hardest to use her mum voice.

Niall crinkles her nose and stands, trying to fix her hair. She walks out into the hall, staring down at the carpet. She feels like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "We can hang out in the living room if you prefer."

Maura just laughs and breaks out into a giggling grin. "You finally have a guy! Niall, this is so exciting! Do you like him? Are you going steady? Tell me!"

Niall raises her head in disbelief, of course her mum would be excited this is her mum after all. "He hasn't asked me or anything but I'm hoping he will. I like him a lot."

"Are you being safe? He looks a bit dangerous. At least he doesn't look homeless like Eoghan." She's talking a mile a minute, unable to really filter her thoughts.

"He's a big softie mum, nice and wonderful." Niall wonders if it's obvious how much she really likes Zayn.

Maura just smiles happily. "I'm so happy you've found someone. Go on. Go back in there and get a little cozy with him. Your father and I had a good time in high school and you should too."

Niall gags and kisses her mum's cheek, almost skipping back into the room. "Sometimes I wonder if my mum is really a teenager."

"Should we go to the living room or...?" Zayn doesn't want to offend or get anyone in trouble.

"No no, she wants us to continue what we were doing." Niall chuckles and snuggles back up to him.

Zayn laughs and kisses her temple. "I feel like I'm really going to like your mum."

"Oh I think you two will get on swimmingly." Niall can already imagine the two of them together, laughing and talking and it makes her stomach flip.

He smiles at her lovingly. "I think I'm going to wait to introduce you to my family. My parents are all about kids, kids, kids and... Yeah. Eleanor just about ran out when she came over one time."

"They already want you to start a family? You're still in high school!" Niall can't imagine her parents already pushing kids.

"Maliks don't go to college. They work in the factories and push out kids. At least, that's what my dad keeps telling me. I’m graduating in May and according to my dad I should be getting married in June." Zayn says with a shrug.

"Oh. I hope I didn't offend you then." Niall's parents had a different attitude, career first family after, which included going to college after high school.

Zayn shakes his head. "I want to go to college. I want to make something of myself, but I'm a greaser. I'll never get in anywhere. Plus, my family is completely against it."

"Still think that's shitty. Come to Ireland with me and get a degree." She means it as a joke, but at the same time if he wanted to she would probably go along with it.

"I'd love to, but let's not think about that right now. I just want to be here with you." He kisses her again, wanting to get off the topic of families and being together in the long run. He won't let himself think about what he knows he can't have.

\------------

Niall sits back on her bed legs tucked underneath her with a bowl of popcorn in between them and the radio on. "So I was thinking we go to the movies tonight."

"Uh, with other people around?” Zayn looks queasy at the concept. “I don’t really want to be stared at all night.”

"Oh. Yeah, silly me should have remembered that." Niall chuckles and licks the salt off her lips, getting another handful.

"How about a surprise? Sound even better?" Zayn asks, hearing the unhappy tone in the girl's voice.

"Surprise?" Niall can't help but lean forward curiously, she loves surprises.

He quickly thinks up a solution to own stupid trap. "Yeah. Get dressed warmly and pack a small bag with your swimsuit and a change of clothes. I have something I want to show you."

Niall giggles and gets up excitedly, running around her walk in closet trying to find everything, getting out her purse.

As she packs and plans, Zayn quickly tries to plot out their impromptu trip. He has it all figured out quite quickly and he can't remember the last time he wanted to please a girl this badly. "You ready, babe?"

"Yeah, think I've managed to gather everything up." She pushes the strap over her shoulder, holding her hand between them.

He smiles, shuts her bedroom door, and just leads her down the stairs and calls a goodnight to Niall's parents- shushing Niall all the while. Once outside, Zayn breaks into a grin. "Come on. I have to go grab some stuff from my house. This spur of the moment thing is really hard to plan out."

"Thought it was already planned." Niall teases. Honestly, at least he was trying and that's all that she really cares about.

"Nope. I don't really plan evenings out since I like staying in most nights." He shrugs and tries not to think about the fact that he just kidnapped Niall without her parents' permission.

Niall follows him to his house, hesitating on the porch. "I should probably wait out here."

Zayn is about to protest before nodding slowly. "Yeah. I'll only be a minute." He kisses her before heading inside.

She didn't want to intrude, Zayn already mentioned he didn't want her to meet his family yet, it made sense since they weren't even together yet and she'd rather not talk about kids.

He returns five minutes later in warmer clothing with a small rut sack in one hand and two pillows and a blanket in the other. "All right. I grabbed my dad's truck keys. Come on."

Niall climbs in, shutting the door behind. She waits until Zayn gets in before she kisses him.

He kisses back firmly, wanting her to know just how much he likes her. "Okay, before we do this, I need to know if you're okay getting in a little bit of trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Niall already knows she's going to go along with whatever he says anyway.

Zayn smiles mischievously and kisses her once more. "You're parents will probably ground you. Depending on easily freaked out they might call the police. You know, normal trouble."

"Are we going to get caught? Or are our chances of getting away pretty good?" Niall asks.

"Do you trust me?" Zayn asks quickly as he looks over to the wonderful girl sitting next to him.

"Always." Niall figures that answers her question even if technically it really didn't.

\------------

Zayn yawns as he looks at the small clock in the car as he puts the truck in park. He looks over to Niall and smiles softly when he sees her curled up and sleeping in the seat next to him. He shakes her lightly. "Hey. Wake up, babe."

Niall yawns, rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms above her head. "Are we wherever you were taking us?"

"Yeah. We can sleep for a few more hours, but I wanted to move us to bed of the truck so we could stretch out a little." It's still pitch black outside and he knows she won't be able to see much until sunrise anyway.

Niall hums holding her arms out, wiggling her fingers at him. Her smile is exhausted and there are bags under her eyes. "Carry me?"

He chuckles, but nods. "Yeah. Give me a second to set up the bed." He kisses her fingertips that are extended towards him before going and setting up.

Once that's done, he comes over and opens her car door. "Come on, babe. Up you go."

Niall wraps her arms around his neck, face pressing into his chest. "I've never felt this way before."

He holds her close, making sure she's secure in his arms before back and carrying her to the bed of the truck. "Felt what? This tired?"

"I've never liked someone before that wasn't platonic. You're my first real kiss." She's had kisses before, but for reasons that didn't really count.

Zayn gets her situated, fixing her skirt so she wasn't flashing anyone before climbing in and lying down next to her and pulling the blanket up around them. "I've never wanted to have someone like me this much. I'm always wanting to please you and see you."

He kisses the top of her nose and reaches over to grab the small alarm clock and flashlight he had set up in the corner. Seeing the time, he set the alarm for three hours and lied back down. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

Niall snuggles against him, settling her ear against his chest and as cheesy as it sounds she falls asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

Three hours later and Zayn groans as the alarm blares to life next to him. He opens his eyes though and remembers everything as the early morning light assaults his eyes. He smiles and gently shakes Niall. "Hey. Wake up. This is what I wanted to show you."

Niall hums and looks up at him, smiling and kissing him softly. "Sorry if my breath smells, morning breath and all that."

"Don't worry. Mine probably isn't much better." He kisses her before sitting up with her in his arms. "So, I drove us to the cliffs of Dover so we could watch the sun rise over the English Channel."

Niall looks out and her eyes widen, it's breathtaking and she can't help but get on her knees, leaning forward in awe.

Zayn watches her with a small smile on his face. "So... Good surprise?"

"It's beautiful. I love it." The way it's glowing and reflecting off the water. She forgets all about being tired.

Zayn shuffles forward and pulls her into his lap and holds her close as they watch the colours sparkle against the water and burn the sky. He presses soft kisses to her neck as his hand rub softly against her thigh. He wants to do this with her every morning for the rest of forever.

Niall tries not to feel weird about Zayn touching her leg, tries not to think about Sean but it's in her mind and she can't help blurt out, "why'd you bring me out here?"

"Because you sounded upset when I turned down the movies. I just wanted to make you smile and surprise you." Zayn says softly.

"So you're not expecting me to do anything to you? You're not going to ask me to have sex with you?" Niall doesn't want to ruin this but she has to know, needs to make sure Zayn isn't like everyone else.

Zayn frowns and pulls back a bit to look at her. "No? You said you weren't comfortable with that kind of stuff. Why would I... I'm not Louis."

"It's just happened a few times is all. I just want to be sure." Niall kisses him, hopes he can tell how much she trusts him.

He kisses her back before just holding her and watching the sun rise entirely. Once it's up and in the sky, he kisses below her ear before whispering. "Go get changed into your swimsuit. There a brook a few miles from here and I brought soap and stuff. Figured a quick rub down with soap would do everyone some good."

Niall laughs and goes to a few bushes to change, stripping down her clothes and slipping on her blue bathing suit with white polka dots and red straps.

When she returns, Zayn has changed as well into his black bottoms and a white tshirt. He smiles over at her and reaches out for her. "Come on. Fancy a swim and bath with me?"

"I think I do." Niall links their arms together, looking out at the water glittering. "You're amazing."

Zayn blushes, not really ever being on the receiving end of a compliment before. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." He winks and kisses her.

Niall waits until Zayn is near the edge, she pushes him laughing as he falls into the neck deep water.

Zayn splutters and looks up at her through his now fallen quiff. "Oh, is that how you want to play?" He cups his hands and throws the icy water towards her.

Niall squeals and glares at him. "You're not allowed to do that! I got you first, meanie!"

He laughs loudly and splashes the water in front of him. "Get in here."

Niall gets in, shivering almost immediately. "That's freezing!"

Zayn hands her a bar of soap he smuggled out of his house. "Here. I hate doing anything until I'm clean. One of my many habits." He holds his breath before ducking under to wet his whole body.

Niall uses the bar to scrub her exposed skin, and gets enough bubbles going to rub it into her hair. She squeals as she completely submerges herself in the water to rinse off.

After washing as best they could, Zayn heads towards her and grabs her thin waist below the water. "Good morning, by the way. Sorry for kidnapping you and making you bunk off of school today."

"Don't really mind. Needed a break from all that greaser-soc bullshit anyway." It was grating on her nerves, getting underneath her skin in ways she can't even begin to describe.

"Well, how about we dry off and change then before heading into town? There's a great diner there and we can just spend the day together here were we don't know anyone and they don't know us." He leans down softly and kisses her forehead.

Niall isn't sure if that's what she wants, she doesn't care if anyone knows, but Zayn still seems to. "Yeah! I could go for something to eat since you kidnapped me and all."

He chuckles and hauls her up, wrapping her legs around his waist as he carries her from the cold water. He's shivering and hurrying back to the car where he forgot the towels he packed for them. "Here, here. Fuck, fuck, fuck it's cold."

Niall's clinging to him, sighing in relief as soon as the fuzzy, sun warmed material is wrapped around her. "Didn't think to bring them down with us."

"Not one of my smarter moments." He looks down at her and can't help the love drunk expression on his face. "I have a question for you and it's extremely important."

"Okay." Niall nods her head slowly, drying her skin off shivering slightly.

Zayn blinks as he realises he really isn't sure what to say. "Um, well I know that we've been sharing kisses and literature for about two weeks now and I just wanted to know if you maybe wanted to go steady? Like, keep my jacket and everything."

Niall's heart swells and her fingers tighten on the towel hanging off her shoulders. Zayn was asking to be a couple. "Yeah, yes."

"Really? You'd... Yeah. Okay." He smiles brightly and looks down at her, loving the way she was so trusting and amazing and perfect. "Can... Can I try something?"

Niall's stomach flutters but she nods, she trusts Zayn. "Yeah."

He leans in slowly, pressing their lips together and reaching up to tangle his fingers through her wet hair. He makes sure to kiss her softly and gently before parting his lips slightly and licking at her bottom lip, asking for entrance.

Niall's breathing stutters when she feels him lick at her, her fingers slightly dig into his shoulders, but she opens her mouth.

He slowly inches his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her and loving everything about this moment. This feels so personal and intimate, he can't process anything else. He strikes his tongue gently against her own before pulling back entirely and nipping softly at her bottom lip. "I... I really, really like you."

"I really like you too." Niall wonders if he enjoyed that knowing that he's gone farther with girls before. "Have you, you don't have to answer, but have you had sex before?"

Zayn blushes bright red and looks down to the ground. "Once. It was with Eleanor. We were both really nervous because we thought you were supposed to have sex like early. We decided to just... Yeah. We don't really talk about it much. It was embarrassing for both of us."

Niall nods and kisses him. "Are you annoyed that I don't want to have sex?"

"No way. I'm not ready for that. I want so many more things before I can even think like that." Zayn says quickly, his father's words ringing in his head.

Niall kisses his chin, beaming up at him. "I found the one person who's willing to wait, I've struck gold."

He laughs and smiles down at her. "Come on. Let's get dressed. I'm starving and exhausted. I need a good cup of coffee and a cigarette to wake me up."

Niall goes back to the bushes to change, using the brush she packed to get hair back in order. Once she's all done she heads over and smiles sheepishly. "What's it like to smoke?"

He looks up from where he's only managed to get his boxers and jeans on before stopping to lite a cigarette. "It's a nasty disgusting habit that you shouldn't worry yourself about."

Niall pouts, trying to ignore the fact that he's shirtless. "So am I not allowed to try and judge it myself then?"

"I'd rather you not, but if you're really that curious," he takes another long drag before holding it out for her. "Try it."

Niall does, pinching it between her fingers and tries for a small puff. Almost immediately she holds it back out, nose scrunched. "That's gross."

Zayn smirks as he scratches at one of his many tattoos on his collarbone. "Told you. I'm trying to quit, but when every single one of your friends smokes, it's hard."

Niall gets into the cab of the truck and turns on the radio now that she's done getting ready, singing along to an Elvis song. The socs all said how horrible he was, called him a greaser even.

He soon joins her, grabbing her hand to hold and starts their drive to the closest town. "I hope your okay with a leather jacket and not a letterman jacket. I don't do sports."

Niall rolls her eyes, "I don't mind. I think leather jackets are cooler anyways, Letterman jackets are a horrid color here."

"What? Not a fan of the blue and yellow?" Zayn laughs heartily as he looks over at her. "Come on. You don't think Liam looks so dreamy in his blue jacket and yellow sleeves?"

Niall rolls her eyes. "Don't think anyone other than you is dreamy."

"Such a lady," Zayn teases as they pull up to the diner. "Shall we? This place has the best waffles in all of England. I swear, it's like they're from heaven above."

"More of a pancake person." Niall hops out and waits until he comes around before grabbing his hand.

Zayn pouts. "Pancakes? They're just sad cakes. They don’t fill anyone up and they don't taste good. Waffles though are the perfect balance between crispy and fluffy perfection."

"I think you are sadly mistaken, pancakes are fluffy and don't get soggy the same way waffles do." Niall laughs, the bell above the door chiming as they walk in.

They're quickly seated and Zayn orders a coffee straightaway. He's exhausted from the drive and then only three hours of sleep, but he reminds himself that it was all worth it to see the look of awe and amazement on Niall's face. "So, tell me about yourself. We really don't know that much about each other."

"What do you want to know? You can't put me on the spot like that." She laughs.

"Well, I want to know everything. All about Ireland, your childhood, why you moved here, what your plans for after secondary are... All of it."

"Bit broad. Uh my favorite color is green, born in Mullingar Ireland," Niall sits there and talks about whatever comes to mind, multitasking between eating her pancakes and talking about herself.

Zayn sits and listens to her. He makes mental notes of everything she says that he thinks will be important (her favourite flower and her birthday) and even things he doesn't think actually matter (she can't stand John Wayne). He just wants to listen to her talk all day.

Niall sits back after awhile and smiles, plate empty and the utensils resting on it. "I think that's it, I've never spent so much time talking about myself."

"I feel like I know you now. It's great. I like this better than making up backgrounds for you in my mind." Zayn says with a nervous chuckle.

"You were making up backgrounds for me?" Niall laughs, she didn't know Zayn did that.

The boy blushes and starts to nervously play with his fingers. "You've just been my inspiration lately when I go to write anything. Had to give you a back story."

"I think that's sweet," Niall leans across the table and kisses him, tasting the syrup on his tongue.

"Well aren't you two just sweetest young couple?" Their waitress says as she drops by to refill Zayn's coffee and drop off the check.

Zayn is too busy blushing to actually reply.

Niall grins, cheeks flushing about as bright as Zayn's. "Thank you, ma'am."

She smiles brightly. "Don't worry about it, love. I've seen my fair share of rumpled looking teens in this diner after a crazy night together. Just hope you were safe. No need to messing up your futures for one night of fun."

Niall doesn't think she can turn even redder. "I'm not, oh no we didn't do that."

Zayn nods in agreement. "Yeah. Still have too much planned out before we even think about that step. University is massively important."

Niall laces their fingers together and takes the check before rumpling through her purse for her wallet.

Zayn smiles before clearing his throat. "What do you think you're doing? You're not paying."

Niall rolls her eyes. "You've seen my house, Zayn. It's not like I'm hurting my bank account."

"Yeah? But you're still my bird so I'm going to insist I pay. Besides, I'm the one who dragged you out into the middle of nowhere to watch the sunrise."

"You don't have to be chivalrous, I really don't mind." Niall tucks her wallet away anyway.

Once they've paid and Zayn is thoroughly satisfied with coffee they head out. "We should probably start home soon. It'll take a good six hours to get home and that's if we don't hit traffic."

Niall sighs, she'd rather just have days like this everyday. "Alright, let's head home then."

He holds her hand lightly as he walks her to the car. He leans in and kisses her softly. "I really, really like you. Thank you for indulging me today. I know you had better things to do today and you'll probably be in trouble when we get back, but thank you so much."

"I can tell you this was better than anything I had planned." Niall's arms wrap around his neck and she kisses him.

Zayn loses his balance a bit and ends up trapping her between the car and him, pressing more urgently against her lips. His arms come to rest on the warm metal behind him as he pulls away. "I love when you kiss me like that."

Niall kisses him again, stepping back around the bed of the truck towards the passenger door. "We can kiss some more in the truck."

"Not while I'm driving." Zayn says with a small pout before climbing into the cab and unlocking her door for her. "Come on. It's a long drive home."

\------------

"Thanks for the ride, Greg!" Niall's a lot happier now, practically beaming as she gets out and heads up to the school and into the building. Zayn's jacket is warm around her, bag slung over her shoulder, smelling Zayn's aftershave.

It's quiet as people stare as they pass through the halls. They see her attire and wonder about what it could mean. Whispers fill the hall.

"Malik, is that your jacket?" Louis ask questioningly.

Zayn looks up from his locker as it grows silent. It's strange, seeing the person you're steady with wearing your clothes- even weirder when they look so tiny in them. He's filled with a sense of pride before real life comes along to ruin it all. "Must have offered it when it was chilly outside and she never gave it back."

"You should probably ask for it back, don't want to give the wrong impression," Harry laughs. He's hanging out until the bell rings, considering he dropped out while ago.

Niall takes her textbooks out putting them away in her locker.

Zayn nods. "Yeah. I'll ask her after school. It looks real good on her. Need that image for tonight's wanking session."

"Good one, mate." Louis says loudly as he doubles over in laughter.

Niall heads over to Zayn after she's gotten her things together, smiling softly. "Hi."

"Hi." Zayn's answering smile is soft. He forgets where they are for a second, almost leaning in to kiss her.

"Oi, Cherry. Nice jacket. Got some real good mental pictures for when I'm jacking off tonight." Louis says.

Niall crinkles up her nose. "That's disgusting. Zayn tell him that's disgusting and he can't say that." 

Normally she would just brush the comments off, but she's with Zayn now. She doesn't want to hear perverted comments like that.

Zayn comes back and can see her and his friends looking at him waiting for an answer. "Well... Well, it's true. I know what I'll be thinking about tonight."

Niall frowns, taking a step back, this isn't the Zayn she's gotten to know. "What? I don't understand, why are you...?"

Louis laughs brightly, throwing an arm around Zayn. "Be happy. You got a bunch of greasers sticking their hand down their pants thinking about you."

Niall pieces things together, no one knows. "Right. Zayn, you left your jacket the other day. Why don't you take it back."

"Nah, looks better on you, babe." He says with an air of false confidence around him. "Besides, it'll piss those socs off right nicely.

"I think you should take it back." Just him talking about the socs piss her off, she doesn't care about either clique. Why does it matter to him? She shifts her bag to shrug it off pawning it off to Zayn.

He looks at her, frowning for her to see. He doesn't want his jacket. "You... You sure?"

Niall hesitates, looking at the leather hanging off his fingers. "Yeah, I'm sure." She turns around and walks off forcing herself not to look back.

\------------

Zayn stands outside the school building. He's leaning against the wall smoking and scanning the kids leaving the building. When he sees Niall he stamps his cigarette out.

As she passes, he snakes an arm out and quickly pulls her away from sight. "We need to talk."

Niall had almost elbowed Zayn in the neck until she heard his voice. She huffs, letting him drag her back. "About what? There's nothing to talk about."

"You're supposed to keep this." Zayn says as he holds the jacket up to her.

"Where am I going to wear it? Clearly I can't wear it around here." Niall holds her hands up away from the jacket.

Zayn sighs. "You can wear it everywhere except school. When we hang out or when you go to the diner..."

"Why do you care? Why? Is your reputation more important than me?" They haven't been going steady long but Niall thought Zayn liked her as much as she liked him.

"No! I mean, I just... Niall, I love you." Zayn says softly. It hasn't been long, but he really feels like they had a good connection.

Niall looks at him, trying to see if he's lying to her. Eventually she sighs, taking the jacket out of his hands. "I have to get home."

"Hey... Let's go to the movies tomorrow night." Zayn says softly as he lightly grabs at her wrist.

Niall makes no move to put her arms around his neck like she usually does, tries to hide the fact that she's still upset. "Don't think that's a good idea someone might see us, wouldn't want anyone to know that you're dating an outcast soc."

"That's not what... You want us to be public?" Zayn asks softly. He wants to make her happy.

"Yes, I want us to be public." Niall's voice drops and she sighs, hugging him close to her body.

Zayn holds her close. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try my best." He kisses her head softly.

\------------

Harry sits back down in his seat out on the porch handing out beers to Louis and Zayn, keeping one to himself. "It's nice getting together just us three."

Harry cups his hand around his cigarette and lights it, inhaling the smoke.

Zayn sips at his beer and smiles at his friends. "It's been too long. It's great that you finally have a day off from the garage though."

"Have to make money somehow." Harry uses the corner of his picnic table to take the cap of his Guinness off.

"True, but with your mouth you could provide sexual services and make even more." Louis says as he lights his cigarette and exhales slowly.

"That's a last resort, like if I was on the verge of homelessness." Harry leans in his seat and it's when he looks at Zayn, sitting there without a jacket. "So what's up with you and that chick Cherry, or whatever Louis calls her?"

Louis breaks into a smile. "Yeah. You getting your dick wet in that? Nicely done, Malik."

"I'm not getting any. We're just... She's my bird. I really like her. Like, really really like her." Zayn says with a shrug trying not to make it a big deal.

Harry raises his eyebrow, looking over to gauge Louis' reaction. "Not a big deal? So is it just casual sex then? Or are their feelings and shit? Bet she writes you fucking poetry. I bet you write her fucking poetry. Christ, tell me it's not one of those relationships."

Zayn looks to the porch floor. "We don't write each other poetry. There's no sex either though. It's just a simple, normal dating relationship. We make out and read literature together and... Christ, I really fucking like her."

Harry's laughter dies down, teasing coming to a halt. "How much do you like her, mate?"

"Enough to be considering going to Ireland for university." The male says with a heavy sigh.

Louis frowns. "I thought we agreed none of us were going to uni."

"You would go to school for her? How good is she at blowies? Suck your brain out of your cock?" Before Zayn had said he didn't want to go, made a joke about uni.

Zayn shrugs. "I don't know. We've only ever kissed. She just makes me want to get out of this town and not live the standard Malik life, ya know?"

"So when's the wedding? Sounds like you're in love with her, mate."

Louis huffs. "You can't just fall in love. It ruins all my plans. We're supposed to fuck off to London and live in the shitty part of town together."

"Hold on, lads. I don't even know if she likes me that much. I mean, we make out and she wears my jacket, but I haven't even given her my ring yet. It's way too early." Zayn is starting to freak out. He can't get married. Graduation needs to happen, then uni, then possibly marriage.

"That's what you say but the way you're talking about her. You're in deep Malik if you're willing to go to another fucking country for uni." Harry tosses his glass off his porch settling back.

"No way. I won't be another Malik statistic. I want to make something of myself, not be a factory worker." Zayn says firmly.

"Then you should focus on school, not blondes with red lipstick. I'd put her on the back burner."

"I have perfect marks in everything except math. Maybe... Maybe she can help me in math." Zayn doesn't want to let her go at all.

Harry just snorts. "I have a question for you then. What if, whenever you two fuck, she got knocked up? What would you do?"

"I'd drop everything for her. I might not want to be a statistic for my family, but I won't just leave her like that." He takes a drag of his cigarette and one last swig of his beer. "We're not sleeping together for a long time though and I'm going to have a condom. It'll be fine."

\------------

Zayn groans as he tries to focus on his words on the page. "Babe, does this essay make any sense? I feel like all my thoughts are jumbled together and I'm just sounding like a fucking idiot. God, why am I so stupid?"

It's December fifteenth and the night before their college essays and applications have to be mailed to ensure their arrival to the admissions staff at Trinity College in Dublin. It's the two's first choice and they're both applying with early action to the University. It's scary and daunting and Zayn doesn't think he could do this without Niall's help.

Niall settles back against the armchair, reading through his paper. The more she reads the more she wishes he saw how intelligent he really is. "Zayn Malik, you are a lot of things and stupid is not one of them. This sounds perfect, and I'm not just saying that."

She looks down at her essay, handwriting neat and crisp. It's crazy, they haven't been dating long and they're applying to college together.

"Are you sure? It sounded really... Ramble-y in the middle. I just... What if I'm not good enough? There has to be better writers out there." He sighs and lets his head drop hard onto the table in front of them. "I still have to write my prompt piece for the head of the English Department there. Oh fuck."

"You've just been at this too long, need to take a break." She gets up onto her knees and kisses him, her hand against his jaw. His stubble scratches at her chin and their noses bump a few times, but it's perfect.

Zayn melts as soon as she's in his lap. It's crazy the amount of control she has over his emotional state, but he doesn't much mind since she always knows what he needs. His hands hold her waist lightly as he allows himself to get lost in her kisses and scent and just overall being.

Niall doesn't think about it, doesn't hesitate to grab his wrist and tug it forward, spreading his fingers apart and placing his hand on her breast.

He freezes under her. He pulls back and looks up at her with a questioning gaze. "You... You sure?"

Niall smiles and nips at his bottom lip, nodding her head. She still feels weird about intimacy, but she's been warming up to the idea of doing anything like it with Zayn.

He smiles softly and kisses her gently. His hands travel slowly over her breasts, wanting to take the time to map them out and memorise every curve and sensitive spot on this new touching place. He does succumb to the desire to squeeze them gently though and just smiles as he realises the trust she's putting in him.

Niall moans softly, falling back to sit properly on the couch, tugging at the hem of her shirt until it's over her head and her hair falls back softly against her shoulder.

Zayn moves so he's the one kneeling over her, staring down at her flushed skin. He takes the white t shirt off his body so they're both in similar states of undress. He kisses her once more before working down her jaw and throat before hesitantly placing a kiss at her collarbone in silent question to go further with his kisses.

"Keep going," Niall whispers sensing his doubt, and the fact that he's even waiting for her confirmation makes her want to do this even more.

He nods and reaches up to peel the bra material away a little bit to leave kisses at the edge of the plain white undergarment, but he won't remove it from her body. He won't ruin this by acting selfish. Even if all he wants is to lay her down and ravish her chest.

Niall hums, fingers running through his hair. Her heart is beating so hard and she wonders if he can hear it. Little moans keep coming out of her mouth without permission and she arches her back a little, pushing up towards his mouth.

Zayn makes sure to bite and suck a dark blossoming bruise into her skin under her bra. "I love you. You're perfect." He kisses softly at the now purplish spot. "We need to finish these applications.”

"Did I at least calm you down?" Niall leans up on her elbows, kissing him. She really doesn't want to stop kissing and cuddling.

"Definitely distracted me," he says as he kisses her once more. He grabs their shirts from the floor and sits up to redress himself as he hands her her shirt. "I'll make us some tea and then we can get these essays done and really relax."

"I like the sound of that." Niall manages to get her shirt on and her hair fixed before the front door opens and her mum walks in.

Maura smiles and greets Zayn with a hug and her daughter with a kiss to the hair. She kindly accepts Zayn's offer of tea and turns to Niall as he disappears in the kitchen. "How are the essays coming?"

"Good, really good. Zayn might not think it, but he's definitely going to get in." Niall smiles fondly towards the kitchen where he disappeared.

"And he doesn't know about your father paying the application fees, right?" Maura says even quieter. She knows the stress money puts on Zayn so she arranged for Bobby to write the check and for Niall to hide it from Zayn.

"He doesn't even know there are application fees. I wish he'd understand that we have the money, it wouldn't kill him to let me buy breakfast once."

Maura smiles softly and pats her arm. "He's just beings good boyfriend is all. He's worried about losing you because of his income. Trust me, your father used to be the same way when we were dating."

"Money could mean less when it comes to him. The only way he's getting rid of me is if he ends it." Niall hopes that'll never happen.

Zayn is back with three cups of tea before Maura can respond. "Here we go. Missus Horan, do you want us to move to Niall's room to finish the application?"

"If you wouldn't mind. I have to get dinner ready." She smiles at Zayn and winks at Niall once the boy's back is turned.

Niall rolls her eyes and leads Zayn upstairs. "Honestly she'll probably throw a fucking party when we have sex."

"Well, that party will have to wait." Zayn says with a laugh as he lays out the rest of his essays and application. It's going to be a long night.

\------------

Niall sighs and sits at an empty table for lunch like she's been doing. The socs don't want to talk to her and Zayn doesn't want to be seen with her at school even though he said he would work on it. She stabs at her pie, piercing a cherry with her fork, it makes her roll her eyes thinking of Louis.

Zayn laughs at something Louis said as he sneaks glances over at Niall. He feels horrible about her being alone and he thinks he needs to be a better boyfriend. He looks at the other and sighs. "How would you all feel if Niall ate lunch with us from now on?"

"People would talk mate. I mean, I wouldn't care, but people would definitely talk." Louis looks over, watching Niall for a moment.

The darker male nods before sighing. "I have to have her here with me. She's so alone over there and I promised her I would work on us being public." He gets up, ready to head over to get her.

Before he can get far Rebekah cuts him off, getting in his way and smiling brightly. "Hey, Zayn! Long time no see."

Zayn freezes in his tracks. "Oh. Um, hey, Rebekah. Yeah... Haven't talked to you in like a year or so."

"I know, how have you been? You look good." She smiles, adjusting her leather jacket.

"Thanks. Uh, I've been fine. Hanging out with my friends and bird mainly." He rubs at his bare arm, trying to draw attention to his jacketless physique.

"Bird? So you're taken then?" She pouts, fingers grazing his arm.

Niall stabs at her pie crust a bit harsher than needed, she's trying not to look over at the girl all over her boyfriend.

"Yeah. It's the new girl from Ireland. She's pretty awesome." A goofy smile takes over his face just by talking about Niall.

"So you wouldn't be interested in going out on a date? Not even just sex?" She frowns, arms crossing immediately.

He looks at the greaser girl, frowning. "No way. Rebekah, we broke up a long time ago. Why would I want to try us again?"

"Not even just one night." She tilts her head to the side, frowning.

"Sorry. You can try Louis. I think him and Eleanor are on a break. If they aren't though, good luck escaping her wrath." He shrugs as he looks past her towards Niall.

"Your loss." Rebekah turns and storms away angrily.

Zayn shrugs and continues on towards Niall. Once at her table, he drops a kiss to her hair. "Come sit with us at our table."

Niall looks up confused, a frown tugging at her mouth. "You shouldn't be talking to me."

"But I want you to sit with us. I don't like seeing you here by yourself. Plus, I don't care who knows. Rebekah just asked for sex and I realised it was because she thought I was single. That's not okay."

"Only if you're sure." Niall whispers, looking around to see everyone staring.

“Do you trust me?”

Niall grabs onto his hand, sliding out of her seat. "Always."

Zayn smiles brightly and pulls her close, kissing her in the middle of the cafeteria. "Come on. Let's get back to Louis and the others."

"Zayn, I love you." It's the first time Niall has said it but it's never felt more right.

He smiles and kisses her in front of the entire school. "I love you so much. It's crazy how short of a time I've known you and I already feel like you're my everything."

Niall kisses him this time, leading him over to the Greaser table. 

Rebekah sneers from where she's sat down. "Her? You're with a soc?"

"She's not a soc. She's just a person. No label." Zayn says with a smile.

"You could have done a lot better." Rebekah rolls her eyes.

Louis gives the girl a pointed look. "Watch what you say. Niall is such a good influence on Zayn. We like her."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Yeah good influence, probably just throws herself at Zayn."

Niall just ignores her, the comments don't bother her and she could honestly not care less, kissing Zayn a bit spitefully.

"If you must know, we're taking things slow. She isn't looking for a hookup." Zayn says politely as he wraps an arm around Niall's waist to hold her close.

"And she doesn't make passes at other people's boys." Eleanor says bitchily to the unwelcome table addition.

Niall smiles thankfully at Eleanor, starting to eat her pie. At least Zayn's friends were behind her.

\------------

Zayn is lying down on the couch in Niall's bedroom as he tries not to think of what he's missing back home.

It's January twelfth and he's a whole year older. Back home, he's got a present lying on his bed and card next to it. That's it. That’s how exciting birthdays in his home are. It sucks, but he's used to it. "Niall, why are we up here? Can't we do something? I don't really fancy just sitting around."

Niall huffs and smiles, exiting her closet with bags in her hands. "I just need to set some stuff up downstairs for my mum. Just read through my literature books or whatever."

He whines in the back of his throat. He doesn't know why he's being extremely needy and clingy today. It could have to do with the fact that Niall has yet to kiss him or even say happy birthday. "Babe, I've read them all. Do you want any help? I can definitely help you."

"No, just turn on the telly if you're bored." Niall rolls her eyes and heads towards the staircase.

It's not until twenty minutes later that Niall calls for Zayn. "Babe, come down!"

Hearing her voice, Zayn scrambles up from the couch and down the stairs. "Niall, what's going on?"

There are blue streamers haphazardly hanging off the walls and happy birthday banners tacked up, a small chocolate cake on the table. "Happy birthday."

He takes in her living room and smiles brightly. "I thought you had forgotten." He crosses the room and picks her up to twirl and kiss her.

Niall giggles against his lips, her arms around his neck. "Of course not! What kind of girlfriend did you take me for?"

Before he can respond, there’s a knock on the door and Louis is barging in like he owns the place. "Happy birthday, Malik! Nice home, Cherry."

"Thanks." Niall rolls her eyes, Harry, Sophia, and Eleanor trailing in behind Louis.

It's a wonderful party. So many greasers had showed up, including Rebekah, but Eleanor kept her away from the birthday boy and Niall.

The clean up is horrendous. Everyone is gone and Zayn looks at the remaining mess. "This place is a disaster."

"I'll hire someone to do it. Besides I have to give you your present." Niall grabs his hand and drags him back upstairs.

"My present? You just threw me my first ever birthday party. You've already done too much for me." Zayn says happily. It's true, he doesn't think anything he'll ever do for her will top tonight.

"Just accept it." Niall pushes Zayn back onto her bed by his chest, smiling softly as she takes her shirt off. After a moment of hesitation she reaches around and unhooks her bra, pushing the straps off her shoulders and letting it fall to the ground.

The boy's eyes widen as he looks up at her. He didn't think this would be his present, but he certainly isn't complaining. He pulls her down and kisses her softly before removing his own shirt and pressing them together, skin to skin.

Niall's breathless, kissing him until he rolls them over so that she's lying flat on her back.

He straddles her waist and holds himself by his elbows as they make out in her bed. It's intimate and amazing and Zayn can't believe his luck. He sits up a bit and softly grabs at her breasts, massaging the flesh between his hands. "This okay?"

Niall moans, nodding her head a little quickly. "God yes. Keep doing that."

Zayn just smiles and nods, continuing to play with her chest before leaning in and licking at the nipple of her left breast. He looks up at her to gauge her reaction.

Niall moans loudly glad that her parents had jobs that almost were around the clock. She tugs at his hair trying to push against him.

He spends the next ten minutes sucking and licking at her chest, trying his hardest to not rut against her like a dog in heat. When he finally pulls back, his lips are swollen and bright red. "Jesus, Niall. This is a great present."

"I have another one but you have to promise not to freak out." Niall runs her palm along the curve of his jaw, her hair mussed and expression dazed.

"Promise." He smiles brightly and kisses her once more. He doesn't think this day can get any better.

She nods and reaches between them starting to undo the belt and button on his pants.

Looking down at her hands, he wants to stop her. He won't let her do this till she's entirely sure, but he said he wouldn't freak out. "Wh-what are you doing, Ni?"

"Giving you your birthday present." Niall pushes at the material trying to get them down his legs.

As much as he wants to make sure she's okay with this, he's more intrigued than anything. He helps her push the material away and he groans as the pressure around his erection is lessened.

Niall flushes and gets him to lie down, straddling his thighs. She pushes his underwear away until he's fully exposed.

"Fuck, babe, you don't have to do this if you don't want to." He wants to be sure she wants this too.

"I want to. I've wanted to do this for the past week." She gets her hand around him, feeling the weight of him in her hand and starts to move.

He moans and can't help as his hips cant upwards. "Oh, shit. Been so long. Oh fuck."

Niall frowns, she felt bad that he had to wait because of her. She continues to move her hand, flicking her wrist to mix it up. Eventually she leans down and very softly licks the head of his cock, more curious than anything.

Zayn's eyes, which had fluttered shut at some point, fly open as he feels her tongue against his skin. He groans as that small little lick sends him over the edge and he can feel himself coming hard. He looks down at her and groans as he sees her face covered in his cum. "Fuck, Niall. I'm so, so sorry."

Niall is shocked but she just laughs, sitting back on his thighs. "Probably look ridiculous right now, can barely open my eye."

He sits up a bit and grabs his shirt from the edge of the bed. "Don't open your eyes. That shit fucking burns if it gets in your eyes." He carefully uses his shirt to wipe off his spunk from her face before looking at her. "I love you. And not because of what we just did, because you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I have a fucked up life, but you're like the one thing right in my life."

Niall just kisses him, surging forward until they're pressed together again. "You wiped my face before I got a chance to taste."

He groans. "Well, if we stay in our current position and make out for a little bit, it'll happen again." He loves her so much. He's never felt like this with anyone.

Niall grins. "My parents won't be home until much later in the evening."

He doesn't respond. He just kisses her again, moving his hands to her back and running the gently across her skin. "Can... Can I return the favour?"

"With your fingers?" Niall asks. She hadn't planned on his but she wouldn't mind honestly.

Zayn nods. "Yeah. We don't have to if that makes you uncomfortable. It's just a thought..."

"No! No, I want to." Niall kisses him, hoping to reassure him.

He kisses back, his hands running along her naked torso and he's nodding slowly. "Yeah. Okay. Want to get your skirt off then?"

Niall laughs at that, she probably looks ridiculous with only her skirt on. She stands on jelly legs, pushing and kicking the material away.

He takes a moment to look over her and he smiles brightly. "You're so beautiful. God, how did I get so lucky to find you?" He holds his hands out her, wanting to kiss over her body and just worship her.

Niall grabs his fingers and let's him pull her forward.

Zayn brings her back down to the bed and kisses her softly as he situates her so she could be comfortable. He kisses all over her face- eyelids, nose, forehead, cheeks- and down her jaw.

He leaves a wonderfully purple bruise at her collarbone as he runs his hands up her side. "I'm not going to lie to you. It's going to hurt for like five seconds. Are you okay with that?"

"As long as it'll feel good afterwards, and its with you." Niall would much rather Zayn hurt her than for any other guy to touch her.

He smiles softly and kisses her again as he lets his hand move so he's rubbing at her through her underwear. "I love you. I want you to know that before we do anything else. I love you so much."

Niall moans, rutting down against his fingers. "Jesus, love you too. Don't stop doing that."

His fingers continue to rub softly at her before he presses a bit harder. He can already feel a little wetness at his fingertips and remembers no one else has ever touched her here before and that makes his cock twitch in interest.

He pulls the fabric to the side so that he can finally touch her straight on. Her skin is hot to the touch and his breath studders a bit as he pushes his index fingers past her lips, but not at her opening. He strokes her softly, wanting her to get used to the idea of being touched there, when he feels her clit beneath his fingers he lightly circles the sensitive ball of nerves.

Niall whimpers, teeth digging into her bottom lip and her fingers curling into fists. It feels so good and she wonders why she hadn't done this sooner. His touch is electrifying and Niall doesn't think she's ever felt this good.

He leans down and kisses her navel a wet and sloppy mark on her stomach. His fingers sweep down the sides of core before pushing softly at her entrance. He can feel the small layer of skin that hinders him and he kisses her thigh as he pushes through, ripping it, to ensure her pleasure later.

Niall gasps, it feels like a sharp pinch, but just like Zayn said the small bit of discomfort subsides and she's feeling better.

Zayn grabs his shirt again and quickly wipes at the blood that he caused. He continues to push his finger inside her before pulling it out to wipe it on his shirt as well. "Think you can take two? One really isn't going to do anything for you."

Niall is about to answer when she sees his t-shirt, sees the blood stain and she sits up fast feeling nauseous. "Oh my, oh my God! I'm bleeding! Oh my God!"

Zayn frowns before it dawns on him that she doesn't even know about her own body. "Babe, you're fine. It's already stopped. It was just me taking your virginity. I mean, not literally. But like... Yeah." He's blushing fiercely, unable to really explain it without embarrassing himself and her.

"No, it's not alright! I'm not supposed to bleed!" Niall winces looking at the small blood stain again.

"Babe, I promise you're okay. It's natural. I promise." He sits back, replacing her underwear and crawling up to just hold her. "It's okay. Look, we'll stop. No more."

Niall sighs and buries her nose into his neck, arm automatically wrapping around. "I'm sorry."

"I don't care, babe. It's not about the sex or anything. I just wanted to make you feel as good as you made me feel." He kisses her forehead and holds her close. He never wants her to feel pressured or anything with him.

Niall nods and kisses his jaw, he's so understanding and patient. She's lucky that he was even interested in her.

\------------

Niall almost runs to Zayn's house, excited and nervous at the same time. She wanted to know if he had gotten his letter the same time she got hers. She heads up his porch steps, breathless and knocking on his front door.

A much older looking version of Zayn answers the door and looks her over once. "Hey there, love. You lost or something?"

Niall forgot that Zayn's family don't know about her. "Uh, I'm... Your son's lab partner. Do you think I could talk to him real quick?"

"Zayn! You got a girl asking for you." The man shouts into the house, never once taking his eyes off of her.

Thundering footsteps echo through the small building before Zayn appears, smile on his face. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to talk about our project." Niall shifts, smiling. She hopes it comes off friendly and nothing more.

Zayn is confused, but plays along. "Oh yeah. Uh, dad, I'll be back later. Massive science thing to do."

Niall waits until the man has disappeared inside before she holds up two unopened letters. "Look what came today."

"Your acceptance letter and my rejection letter!" Zayn grabs at the one addressed to him and looks at it suspiciously. "I don't know if I can open this. What if it really is a rejection letter?"

"It's not going to be a rejection letter. Zayn, just open it." Niall tears into her envelope, unfolding the official paper. She's reading over the words, looking up at Zayn. "I got in."

Zayn hesitantly opens his and pulls out the folded paper. He opens it and reads it quickly and then a second time just to be sure he read it correctly. "I... I did it. I got accepted. Niall, I'm going to college!"

"Congrats!" Niall surges forward and kisses him, wrapping her arms around him. She had no doubt about it.

He holds her close, gripping her tighter than he's ever done before. This is all because of her. He knows it. He's so excited when he doesn't notice the second piece of paper fall out of the huge envelope.

Niall kisses all over the side of his face, squeezing him tighter. "I love you."

"I love you. This is all because of you. You pushed me and now I'm really getting out of here. You and me, out of this town forever and together." Zayn says as he pulls back to finally look at her. 

"We have to talk about things first. My parents are getting me my own apartment, would you like to move in with me? You don't have to! It's a big commitment I know."

Zayn just kisses her once more. "Of course I want to move in with you. I want everything with you." He looks to the ground in a blush and sees the dropped letter. "This yours?"

Niall frowns and shrugs. "Don't know. Open it up it might have one of our names on it."

He opens it, reading it aloud. "'Dear, Mister Malik. Due to your exceptional writing abilities I'm offering you a position on the school paper. Please understand that only a select few ever join the paper and that spots are not easy to come by. Your essay about overcoming challenges in your life was so well written, I submitted it to our Dean as for contemplation and evidence for scholarship need.'" He looks up and Niall, awestruck.

Niall's entire face lights up, she's never felt so happy and so proud of someone. "Zayn! I told you you could do anything."

Zayn honestly doesn't know what to do. He sinks to the porch and just sits there in shock. "I got accepted to college and offered a position on the paper? Niall... How?"

"I told you that you're amazing. I'm so happy for you, Zayn." She sits next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He just looks out over the semi dark street in happiness. "We're getting out of here."

"Together." Niall thinks she might have found her one and only.

The sound of a throat clearing behind them startles Zayn as he turns to see his dad. "Oh, um, hey, dad."

"Where are you going, Zayn?" His father asks, voice casual enough, but his expression is hard like he's overheard everything.

Niall puts an inch of space between herself and Zayn. She doesn't want to get in the middle of this.

"I... I got accepted to Trinity College in Dublin. I'm going to be writer." Zayn says, voice still overshadowed with disbelief.

Yaser frowns. "No. No, Maliks get married, have kids, and work in the factories. They don't go to college."

"And why not? A career is important." Niall's voice is soft not wanting to anger Zayn's dad.

Yaser looks down at the girl, his anger spiking slightly. "Because we're a poor family. How are we supposed to pay for college? I'm wondering where Zayn got the money for the application fee."

"Application fee? What application fee?" Zayn says suddenly. There had been no application fee.

Niall shakes her head looking at Zayn. "It wasn't a lot so I took care of it."

"You told me there wasn't a fee." Zayn says suddenly a bit mad. "How much? How much was it?"

"Just ninety five euros a piece. Nothing bad." Niall shrinks back, doesn't like the tone of his voice and that he's directing it at her.

He stares at her in disbelief. "Ninety five? Niall, that's... Maybe I should stay here. If that's just an application fee, I can't imagine tuition."

"They have scholarships, things you can do to bring down tuition. Zayn, I'm rich. I could pay the leftover tuition."

"You shouldn't be paying for me! You should never have to pay for me. I'm the man, I'm supposed to provide." Zayn says stubbornly.

"Stop with that bullshit. Just because you're a man doesn't mean anything. If I have the means I should be able to do it."

Zayn huffs and crumples the letter in hand. "Me being a guy doesn't matter! I just... I don't want to be your charity case."

"Is that what you think? That I pity you or something? Zayn, you have an amazing opportunity here, you could go to college and make something of yourself. You won't be another Malik statistic." Niall's pleading with him, wants him to know, that she cares.

Zayn doesn't respond right away. He's looking down at the now ruined letter. "I should get inside. Louis is coming over soon."

"Are you mad at me?" Niall's voice is quiet, looking down at her lap.

"I'm just upset because you lied to me and went behind my back. I get that you did it to help me, but it's still like a breach of trust." Zayn says with sigh. He looks over at his dad before leaning in and kissing her gently. "I'll see you in school tomorrow."

Niall just gets up and leaves.

\------------

Zayn is sprawled on his bed recounting the whole incident to Louis. "I don't know, I mean I know she was trying to help, but it still hurt. I don't know. And now, unless I get a scholarship, I'm not going. I couldn't make her pay for my tuition."

"Zayn," Louis doesn't know where to begin. He understands everything from both sides. "She shouldn't have lied, but she's right. This is once in a lifetime, do you want work in a factory?"

"No, but I can work there for a year or two and maybe save up money to go to uni. I can't have her pay." Zayn says adamantly.

"She's not even paying; her parents are. Look, I get why you don't want to, but if someone is offering to pay then take it. If El's parents were rich and wanted to pay my tuition then I would take the opportunity."

The darker male sighs and plays with his thumbs. "What happens if Niall and I don't make it? What if we get out there and we find out we aren't as unshakeable as I feel we are? What if we break up?"

"If you break up Niall would probably still make sure you were taken care of, but I honestly don't think that'll happen. You two are so in love it's a bit disgusting." Louis makes a face.

Zayn smiles softly. "We are a bit gone for each other aren't we?" He looks at his comforter and sighs. "She wants us to get an apartment out there together."

"See! She wants something serious. The real question is, do you want something serious? Are you really in love or infatuated?" Louis quirks his eyebrow.

"I think it's love. I mean, she's pretty much a constant in my thoughts. She's the last thought of the day and first thing I think about in the mornings. I see like those little adverts for London and think that I'd love to take her to the city one day. I can't stop. She's always on my mind."

Louis smiles softly. "Then go to Ireland, go to college with her and stop worrying about things that don't matter."

"What about our plans? You, me, and Harry. We're supposed to do the whole best friends in London thing." Zayn says as a final effort to be talked out of university.

"Don't worry about us, we want you to succeed." Louis reaches over, squeezes Zayn's shoulder and smiles.

It's quiet as Zayn has one last internal debate with himself. He looks up at Louis with a giant smile. "So... University?"

"University." Louis mutters, grinning. "Congrats, Zayn, you deserve it."

\------------

Niall's been lying in her room and she's done a good job not crying. After what happened with Zayn she didn't know what to do. Zayn was mad and Niall wanted to make things right again.

After some debate she goes downstairs, long nightgown swishing around her knees.

Maura and Bobby are still downstairs, giggling as they whisper to each other and are wrapped up in one another on the couch. They kiss softly and stand up, ready for bed when she sees her daughter. "Oh, Niall..."

Niall smiles softly. "If this is a bad time I can wait until tomorrow or something."

"No, no, no. It's fine. Bobby, can you go upstairs? I have a feeling this is a girl talk." Maura says as she kisses her husband's cheek.

Niall waits until her dad has gone before she sits on the sofa next to her mum. "Um, this is kind of embarrassing."

"What's up, sweetie?" Maura says as she throws an arm around her daughter and pulls her in.

Niall's face flushes a ruddy pink, her mum's closeness isn't helping her embarrassment. "I want to talk to you about sex."

Maura frowns slightly. "What about it? You aren't sexually active are you?"

"Not yet." Niall shrugs, trying not to blush anymore than she already is.

"Is Zayn pressuring you? I don't want you to feel like you need to do anything you don't want with him." Maura says sternly.

"No! No. He's just mad because he found out about the application fee and I want to make things right again." Niall shrugs picking at the hem of her gown.

"That's not a reason to have sex with him. You have to be sure that you love him and that he loves you." Maura says with a kiss to the girl's hair. "If you don't mind me asking, what have you two done together?"

"We've... Done things." Niall's never had such a hard time talking about something.

Maura looks at her daughter, unimpressed. "Niall, what have you done? You're the one who wanted to talk about this so I need to know."

“Mum...”

"Did he... Did he touch you at all? Is that why your dad found a bloody wife beater in the trash outside?" Maura asks wanting to help her daughter in any way better.

"I wanted him to. I wanted him to and I started bleeding and he stopped right away. It was just his fingers."

Maura nods slowly. "Okay... So what did you want to ask me? Anything specific?"

"Just how do you know it's the right time?" Niall asks.

"You just do. Trust me. When your father and I were dating, we struggled for when too. When you're alone and everything just clicks, you'll know. It'll be a highly romantic moment and you'll be able to think of nothing except each other." Maura says as she runs her fingers through the blond hair. "Just be sure you both are safe and protected."

"Always. I don't want to have a baby any time soon." Niall can't have her life ruined like that, she has hopes and dreams of becoming something.

"Babies... Can be a huge blessing. Greg was too early. I got pregnant with him in university. As soon as your father found out, we married." She shrugs lightly, unsure if she would have done anything differently. "Knowing that there's a life growing inside you, a life that you and someone you love created, it just puts everything into a different perspective."

"I mean I want children one day, but not now. Not when there are things I still want to see and do."

"And I'm sure Zayn feels the same." She kisses Niall's temple. "Anything else you want to ask me, love?"

"Zayn is mad at me." It's not a question, but she's still upset about it.

Maura sighs. "I'm sure he'll get over it soon. And if not, then we have to watch from afar as he tries his hardest."

"I should have told him about the application fee." Niall bows her head.

"But then he never would have applied and been offered a scholarship." Maura says softly. "I think you need to sleep and just talk to him tomorrow when he's got a clear head."

"You're right." Niall kisses her mum's cheek and thanks her.

"Anything else I can help with, doll?" Maura says softly as she checks the clock on the wall.

"No, I think that's it." Niall kisses her mum again before going upstairs to her bedroom.

Maura waits until she hears Niall's door click shut before she hurries up the stairs and into her and Bobby's room. "Bobby, love, are you still awake? I do believe you whispered some very naughty things to me earlier."

\------------

Zayn has managed to avoid Niall most of the day now. It's last block and he hasn't spoken a word to her. He's not angry anymore or anything like that, he just doesn't know how to bring up what happened gently. It's not like they can ignore it, but he doesn't want to say the wrong thing either. He sighs as he grabs his last bit of books for the day and heads off to French- one of the only classes he doesn't share with Niall.

Niall is unusually quiet and the smile usually tattooed on her face isn't there. She hitches her bag up and heads down the hall, rounding a corner towards her next class.

The Leeds native stops dead in his tracks when he sees Niall. He knows he needs to apologise and he can feel his body screaming for her.

Sean is there though, grabbing her wrist quickly. "Hey there, Niall. Look, can we talk?"

Niall frowns and pulls her arm back, raising her eyebrow. "Go ahead, but keep your hands to yourself, yeah? I'm not single."

"Oh, really? Word in the halls is that you and Malik broke up. I just wondering if you wanted to try us again. I think we got off on the wrong foot." Sean says with a small smile.

"You grabbed my tit and kicked me out of your car because I wouldn't put out. And who told you Zayn and I broke up?" Niall really doesn't want to talk to this guy.

"Everyone is saying it." He shrugs. "Look, I just want another chance. And it's not my fault you're a prude. If you gave it up, maybe Malik would still like you."

Niall swallows the bile in her throat but she rolls her eyes. "Like you know at all what Zayn and I have done. Not wanting to have sex doesn't mean I'm a prude."

Zayn frowns and heads over. "Hey! He bothering you, babe?" Zayn wraps a protective hand around her waist and holds her tightly.

Sean looks them over with disgust. "So you only put out for greasers then?"

"No, I just don't put out for assholes." Niall is seething, ready to do something extreme.

"Whatever. You're wasting your time. He won't amount to anything. He'll just be another factory worker whose only accomplishment in life will be having children galore. Just like Tomlinson's mum, you'll be a little greaser's bitch." Sean says with a sneer.

Niall doesn't think, she just reaches up and slaps him. "He'll be more than you'll ever be, you irrelevant git."

Zayn's eyes widen as he tugs Niall down the wall away from the commotion. "What the hell are you doing? You'll get detention or something."

"And? I don't care! He can't just talk to or about people like that." Niall is angry until she realizes that she's talking to Zayn and her eyes soften, stepping away.

Zayn seems to realise the same thing and looks to the ground. "Don't take anything he says seriously. I promise we'll prove him wrong."

"We?" Niall is hopeful, she honestly thought Zayn was going to end it and the rumors weren't helping.

"Niall," he sighs, "I was a dick yesterday. I should have been thanking you and instead I was yelling. I'm sorry. Louis talked some sense into me and... And if you're still willing and still want to, I would be so grateful to go to university with you."

Niall wraps her arms around Zayn's neck and kisses him, pushing her body against him. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kisses her again, making a small noise against her lips as he pulls back. "I almost forgot, will you go to prom with me? I know it's not for like another four months, but I need an answer so I can plan everything out."

"Of course I'll go to prom with you." Niall rolls her eyes, but grins anyway.

"Just wanted to be sure." He laughs and kisses her once more. "Skip fourth block with me?"

Niall nuzzles her face into his neck. "Would love to. Still never got to taste you."

"Shit. Come on!" Zayn tugs her down the hall, happy to see her smiling once more.

\------------

Niall hums quietly while she sat cross legged on her living room floor, a textbook in her lap and her homework on the coffee table in front of her. Lately Zayn had been working to save his money up and Niall had inadvertently started talking to Louis as a result. They've become good friends because of it, spending time together.

Right now Louis' on the sofa doing his homework, and Niall's just proud he's attempting it.

"Did you ever notice that if you put a parenthesis, a period, a capital y, another period, and another parenthesis it looks like tits? That's what I should really be learning." Louis says as he holds his homework to show Niall.

Niall snorts trying to scold him. "Louis, you're so childish. I swear."

"These look like El's tits. Small, but amazing." He nods seriously. "Besides, Mister Cowell will love this. It's the only action he's ever going to get."

"Louis, do your homework." She lightly slaps his knee. God only he would be like this, but lately she's found it more endearing than anything.

"I can't. This is too boring. Tell me a story." The boy flops on the couch, flipping around to stare at her.

"Uh, okay what kind of story?" Niall figures it's a good time for a break anyways, setting her things to the side.

"Would it be weird to ask you about you and Zayn? I've just always wondered how you two make it work." Louis says suddenly shy.

Niall smiles down at the carpet and nods her head. "Yeah, I love talking about him."

Louis grins. "Come on, Cherry. Spill all about him."

"What do you want to know? Zayn is a broad topic." There's so much to talk about.

"How do you know you're in love?" He's been thinking about his relationship with Eleanor and he's wondering if it runs deeper than just hookups.

"I think about him all the time, I hope he's doing okay and that he's having a good day. I spend half my time wanting to be with him and the other half never wanting to leave him. I feel like there are always stones in my stomach, like I can feel that I'm in love. Zayn is the love of my life and I don't think that'll change."

"So... Do you think Eleanor and I are in love?" Louis asks, trying for nonchalance.

"I can't see how you feel, but from what I can see I think so." Niall smiles.

Louis pauses and thinks for a minute. "I've been thinking about asking her to marry me after graduation. You know? Get that Tomlinson legacy going. Twins run in the family so kids would need to be done young just in case." He's not like Zayn; he's accepted his fate.

Niall's not going to make any comments, if it's what Louis wants. "Only if you really want to. Marriage is for life."

"She's the only one who will put up with my shit." He says with a shrug. "Plus she's super fit and I just have these moments where I look at her and everything feels right."

"Then do what feels right." Niall smiles and pats his knee.

"Right. I'll ask her after graduation then." Louis says with a shrug and his no big deal attitude. "Are you scared about university? Zayn is practically shitting himself he's so nervous."

"A little yeah, but I know that I can do it. Just like I know Zayn can, I know he'll succeed." Niall knows Zayn is destined for great things.

"You really love and trust him, don't you?" Louis can't understand putting that much blind faith in someone.

"Yeah, it's crazy, but I do." Niall guesses it's part of being in love with someone.

Louis is quiet for a moment. "I'm glad you moved here. I don't know what Zayn would have done after graduation if you hadn't shown up."

"I don't know what I would have done. I was beginning to think I would never find someone. My parents thought the same thing they were just more quiet about it."

"I'm sure you would have found someone. Like it would just happen. Zayn had already picked out a girl to marry before you showed up." Louis says with a shrug.

Niall frowns, there's no way Louis said what she thinks he did. "Picked a girl out to marry?"

"Yeah. Just before you got here, he said he was going to start like trying to get that soc chick Perrie to like him. Honestly, you're a much smarter match." Louis says with a shrug.

"I don't-" Niall doesn't know how to feel about that. She honestly never felt this for anyone, but Zayn had already picked out another girl to marry, one that looked a hell of a lot like Niall.

Louis looks up at the ceiling, unaware of the inner turmoil he causing. "Yeah, it wasn't anything serious. His dad was just pressuring him and he said he picked her because at least she was pretty when she was confused. You've met Perrie, she's pretty dumb."

"So he likes dumb girls? Thinks they're cute?" Niall asks, getting more and more annoyed as Louis went on.

"Meh. He knows they won't question him because he's smarter. Let's be honest, it wouldn't have worked. Zayn saw her English grade and cringed. Apparently she is barely passing and he finds that unattractive."

"So passing English is attractive, but he likes them stupid because they're easier to manipulate?" At least this is what she's getting from Louis' rambling.

Louis shrugs once more. "It's hard to explain. He's never actually liked a girl, but when he said Perrie, I knew it wasn't going to work. She didn't understand half of what he was saying."

Niall hums, looking up at the clock mantled on the wall. "He should be getting off work any minute now."

"That's my cue to leave. I don't want to watch you two suck face once he gets here." Louis gathers up his stuff and grabs as many chocolate chip cookies as he can and heads home.

\------------

Niall finishes the last cookie on the plate along with her homework, shoving her textbook back into her bag. Zayn should be here any minute and she has so much to ask.

Zayn sighs. Work isn't hard, but customers are the devil. He knocks lightly on Niall's door before using the key he was given to let himself in. "Babe? I'm home.”

"Hey." Niall kisses him, arms going around his neck and she hopes he doesn't pick up on the fact that she's annoyed and confused.

"How was your day? Louis wasn't too much of a hassle was he?" Zayn says as he slips his work flannel from his body and drops down onto the couch, pulling her down with him.

"Not at all, he was very enlightening." Niall shrugs, letting him hold her.

"Enlightening?" Zayn says with a yawn. He's drained from moving all the boxes of cans and produce at the supermarket.

"Louis told me all about Perrie. Am I stupid? Is that why you're with me? You think I'm easy to manipulate?" Niall's more hurt than angry.

Zayn looks at Niall in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about? What about Perrie?"

"He told me you were going to marry her. That you like your girls dumb so they'll do what you say." Niall climbs off of him, sighing.

"What? No! I said I was going to marry Perrie because my dad was pressuring me to find a girl. Yes, she's as dumb as they come, but at least she's pretty." Zayn wants to know how everything got so twisted. "Beauty isn't everything and I'm lucky to found you who has beauty and brains."

"But that's, you didn't even love her. How do you know you love me if you were willing to spend your life with someone you didn't care about?"

"You're right. I didn't love her. All I knew was that I needed to marry someone after graduation and she seemed the most likely to say yes." Zayn says. He knows she doesn't understand. It's such a greaser mentality. "Niall, I'm not marrying you after graduation. I want to spend forever with you, but there's no rush. I don't want to marry straight out of high school, but before you there wasn't another option."

Niall sighs, she has to constantly remind herself how different things are here. "I just felt hurt and a little jealous that you were seriously going to marry someone else."

"Not because I wanted to." He stands up and pulls her close. "I love you and want you. That's what makes you different from Perrie."

Niall nods, burying her face into his chest. She loves him more than anything in the world, including herself.

\------------

Niall curls the last bit of her hair and sweeps it to the side. She's nervous, slipping her soft blue dress on. She stares at herself in the mirror, trying to finish up any last minute touches until she hears the front door downstairs and she knows Zayn is here.

"You can do this." Niall sets her things aside and slips her heels on, descending the stairs.

Zayn is standing nervously in the parlour with a corsage. He looks up as she comes down and his jaw drops. "You look so... Gorgeous."

Niall blushes, standing still once she's right in front of him, he looks so good in a tux. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He offers her the bracelet of flowers. "Um, so I have a surprise for you tonight."

Niall waits until she's said bye to her parents and brother and they're both outside heading towards Zayn's car to say anything. "A surprise?"

"Yup. I already talked to your parents about it so we won't be like getting into trouble or anything either." Zayn says with a smile.

"Now you've got me curious." Niall can't help smile when Zayn holds the door open allowing her to get in.

He closes the door softly and checks the tarp covering the bed of the truck hiding most of the surprise. Once satisfied, he climbs in and starts towards the prom. "I never thought I'd ever go to prom."

"I hope that doesn't mean you don't want to come." Niall teases.

Zayn shrugs. "Just never thought I would ever have anyone to take."

Niall leans over and kisses his cheek. "I love you and tonight is going to be perfect."

Once there, Zayn quickly finds Louis and the two start discussing plans in hushed tones.

Eleanor pulls Niall close and squeals. "Are you excited? I know what Zayn is planning and it's super cute!" She kisses the girl's cheek softly.

"I want to know already! The suspense is killing me." Niall pouts.

"I know you'll love it." Eleanor says with a giant smile. "It's so romantic. If Louis ever did something like that for me, I'd die. Plus the fact that he asked your parents to make sure you were allowed to stay with him overnight? So polite!"

Niall is growing more and more curious, huffing and crossing her arms. Everyone knew but her.

Zayn comes back and pulls his date to him. He kisses her neck softly as he sways them to the music. "You look so stunning in your dress. You're so beautiful."

Niall laughs and kisses his shoulder. "If anything you're the good looking one."

He just shakes his head and smiles lightly at her before taking her hand and twirling her around the dance floor. "So, we're going to have to leave prom a bit early to get to the surprise at a decent hour. Is that okay?"

"That's fine, but can I get a hint or something?" Niall just wants to know.

"Nope" Zayn kisses her softly and continues to twirl her around. "You might want to hear about the surprise Louis is going to pull at graduation next month."

"What's he doing?" Niall asks until she realizes something. "Don't change the subject, Zayn Malik."

He laughs at her and holds her close before kissing her in the middle of the dance floor. "He's proposing to Eleanor at graduation."

Niall smiles softly. "That's great! Knowing Eleanor she'll say yes of course."

Zayn smiles. "I tried to talk him out of it." He stops their dancing and leads them over to grab punch from the table.

"Don't they spike the punch at these things?" Niall watches as he pours the red liquid into two different cups.

"No? Louis and I would be the ones who would do it, and we're both alcohol free tonight." Zayn says as he sips the punch lightly to taste it.

"Too many movies I guess." Niall chuckles and drinks her punch, scrunching her nose. "Pure sugar."

They stay for awhile, dancing to the slow songs and then in a group with the other greasers during the more upbeat ones. It's nearing ten thirty when Zayn grabs Niall's arm and pulls her aside. "You ready to blow this place?"

"Yes!" Niall can't hold back the excitement, Eleanor had been gushing about the surprise earlier and its the only thing on her mind.

Zayn chuckles and tugs her along towards the exit, calling a goodbye towards Louis. "So I've always wanted to see London and visit the city. I talked to your parents and have permission to take you to London for a weekend."

Niall's eyes widen, of all things she hadn't expected that. "Zayn, you're fantastic."

"Just you, me, and London all weekend." He smiles and kisses her softly.

"I love you, so much." Niall settles back in her seat content with Zayn and everything else.

It takes a few hours, but they finally make it to London in one piece and despite the late hour, the lights of the city are still shining bright. "Niall, look! Buckingham Palace!"

Niall looks out the windshield at the large, structured building. "That's amazing! Look at it!"

Zayn follows the directions the guy at the hotel had given him when he called to book the room and soon enough, they're checking in. "I really hope you like the room. I couldn't afford much, but I really wanted tonight to be special."

"Zayn, I love you. Anything you do is perfect." Niall kisses his stubble cheek, letting him lead her towards their room.

He opens the door and it's not as bad as he was expecting. It's a small room, but it's homey and feels like something that he would want in his future home with Niall. "Welcome home for three days."

Niall hugs him, feels their hearts beating together and she doesn't think when she leads him towards the bed in the center of the room.

He smiles at her softly and kisses her. He wants her to know just how much he loves her in every way possible. "I can't wait to spend forever with you."

"Zayn, I want to have sex." Niall's smile is small, but it's still there.

Zayn stops in his tracks and blinks down at her. "You... You sure? If this is because you think I want something in return for this weekend, I don't. I just want you to be sure that's what you want."

"I want to, Zayn. I love you and I want to show you just how much I do." Niall kisses him, hands on his shoulders, pulling him close.

He hesitates for only a second more before kissing her passionately and gripping at her waist tightly. He gently lowers her too the bed and climbs up beside her. "I honestly didn't expect this to happen this weekend."

"Just shut up and get in me." Niall blushes at her own words.

"Jesus," Zayn hadn't expected Niall to be so straight forward either. He nods and kisses her before grasping the zipper on the side of her dress and undoing it, careful not to ruin the dress in any way. Once she's down to her bra and underwear, he quickly sheds his clothes as well until he's in his boxers.

He looks over her body and smiles softly at every curve and freckle he sees. "You're so beautiful." He crawls up her body, kissing at her pale skin, until he can press their lips together once more.

Niall kisses back, pushing her tongue against his lips while her hands cradled his neck, she's more confident about this than she thought.

He parts his lips for her, eager to let her explore his mouth as he touches and caresses her body. They know each other so well now. This is second nature to them- touching and kissing.

His hand rests over her clothed entrance and rubs lightly at the softness there. He can already feel her becoming hot and wet for him and he can't help but rut into the comforter below them.

Niall moans, looking down to see Zayn trying to get himself off. "Babe, don't waste any time."

Zayn nods and shifts to get her underwear off and then his boxers. He's still a bit nervous so he even takes the time to undo her bra. "Do... Do you want me to finger you first?"

"Yeah, just get me ready." Niall kisses him again, tugging on his hands.

He nods and let's his fingers swipe through the wetness between her legs before rubbing at her clit lightly to help give her a bit of pleasure. He kisses her lightly as he pushes two fingers into her straightaway.

"Zayn," Niall whines, voice drawing out. She pushes down against him, hoping to get this part over with.

Zayn kisses her and does his best to open her up quickly. He gets four fingers in her before deciding that she's prepped enough. He kisses her and pulls his fingers from her. "You ready?"

"Y-Yeah," she's breathless, can barely get the word out. Niall looks up at him from under her eyelashes, face flushed and she hopes he can see what he's doing to her.

He nods and swallows the lump in his throat as he moves her legs around and lines himself up before pushing into her slowly. Zayn can't help the low moan and groan that escapes his throat as he sinks into her and bottoms out. "Fuck, Niall. You feel so good."

"Don't move." It doesn't hurt, but it's uncomfortable enough that she needs a moment.

He nods and kisses her softly all over her face. "I love you so much. I can't wait till we're in Ireland and living in an apartment together. Just the two of us."

Niall smiles and nods her head, kissing along his jaw. "Okay, you can move now."

Zayn takes her word and pulls out slowly before rocking his hips forward into her again. His breath catches in his throat as he moans and finds himself in a steady rhythm and slow pace. He still doesn't want to hurt her.

Niall moves with the bed, shifting and moaning loudly. "Zayn, right there, fuck that feels nice."

He nods and speeds up his thrusting. He tries to think of any way to make this more romantic and possibly better for Niall. He takes her hand in his and laces their fingers together tightly and leans down to kiss her passionately as he switches from slow and deep to quick and hard.

Niall kisses him back and wraps her calves around his waist, letting him get in as deep as he can go. For awhile she really didn't think she was going to find a guy, that she'd never trust anyone enough to do this, but she loves him and she loves this. She can feel every part of him and there are tears in her eyes when she comes.

He can feel her collapse around him as she slips off the edge of climax. It's only two or three more thrusts before he can feel his impending orgasm and he pulls out of her just in time to come all over her lips instead of inside her.

Zayn groans and lets his muscles give out so he can lay beside her. "Fuck. I honestly wasn't expecting that this weekend."

"I was kind of hoping it would." Niall looks away shyly, still dazed from her orgasm.

He chuckles and rolls closer to her, wrapping an arm around her torso. "I love you so much. I hope you know that."

"You tell me all the time." She teases, but there's a smile on her face and warmness in her voice.

"Even that's not enough." He yawns and rolls away to stand up and stretch. "Come on. Let's shower real quick and then get some sleep."

"Carry me." Niall holds her arms out, tired and sleepy after the fact.

Zayn's rolls his eyes, but the fond smile on his face gives him away. "Anything for you, anything."

\------------

"I don't get Shakespeare. He's writing in fucking English, but it still makes no sense. How bloody hard is it to just write: 'my dad's ghost visited me and now I'm suicidal'?" Louis groans as he drops his head onto the coffee table with a loud thud.

"Because English came from Latin and it slowly changed over time. That and the Norman invasion." Niall laughs but it's a bit forced, lately she hasn't been feeling all that well.

"Fuck," Louis says into the text. "I'm going to fail the final exam and not be able to graduate. I'm never going to get out of that hellhole."

"You just got to study. I can help you out if you want." Niall smiles, swallowing back a small bit of bile.

Louis nods. "That's the only way I'm going to get any of this. I need some tea though... Maybe some chocolate. Do you want any?"

"I-" Niall doesn't get a chance to answer before she slams a hand to her mouth and she's stumbling to get up, vomiting in the entryway.

The boy scrambles from his seat, quickly there and helping to steady her in case something worse happened. "Fucking hell. You need to lie down. Why didn't you tell me you were sick? I could have buggered off and asked Zayn for help when he got off work."

"I didn't, it just happened." She uses a napkin to clean her mouth off, lying back on the couch.

"You just randomly threw up? Have you been feeling sick at all lately?" He doesn't want his friend sick for graduation.

"Off and on." Niall shrugs, some days she feels just fine and some, well.

"You should go see a doctor, mate. I think Eleanor caught the same thing. She threw up the other day as well." Louis says with a shrug. The two girls hang out so it's quite possible they both caught a virus or something.

"No, Louis, I-" Niall closes her eyes and rubs at her stomach. "How do you know if you... If there's a baby in there?"

Louis frowns. "Wait. Did you and Zayn... When?"

"After prom. We were safe though! Zayn made sure I was comfortable and everything."

"You were safe? Did you use a condom? Any contraception?" Louis asks. He hopes to God that Niall is just overreacting.

"Condom? Contraception?" Niall frowns, eyebrows drawn together.

He blinks over at the blonde. "Please tell me you're trying to be funny. What the hell did they teach you in Ireland?"

"School stuff. They banned sex ed and all that." Niall literally has no idea other than the basics.

"Jesus," Louis groans as he looks to the clock. "Okay, Zayn is coming home any minute. I'm going to tell him that you weren't feeling good and that you want him to go study with me. You're going to go with your mother to the doctor and get this figured out."

"Okay." Niall's a little panicked, she can't be pregnant this can't actually be happening.

Louis kisses her forehead wanting her to calm down. "Let me know what you find out. I'll help you break it to Zayn if you end up being pregnant. God, there goes college."

Niall's eyes widen and her head snaps up. "No! No, if I am, we are not telling Zayn."

"We have to tell him! What are you going to do? Stay here while your dad pays for him to go study and learn?" Louis knows that won't go over well with Zayn at all.

"Yes. I can't mess things up for him. Louis, listen to me, Zayn has a future, he's going to be something. I can't let him be another Malik statistic."

"You can't not tell him that he's going to be a dad! He'd rather give up everything for you and be a statistic than make you do this on your own." Louis says incredulously.

"Then I'll break up with him! I'm not ruining the one shot Zayn has at a great life." Niall narrows her eyes managing to stand up without feeling nauseous.

The front door opens and Zayn's voice can be heard calling through the parlour. "Niall? Babe, I'm here."

Louis pushes Niall back onto the couch and silences her with a glare. "Just go to the doctor's first. We'll sort everything else out later."

"In here!" Niall calls from where she's curled up on the couch, suddenly feeling self conscious.

"You won't believe what I heard- oh, hey, Lou." Zayn smiles brightly and waves at his mate. "Anyway, you won't believe what I heard at the garage today."

"What did you hear?" Niall's voice is gentle, like she's tip toeing around something and she's trying not to be entirely too obvious.

"Karen Payne crying up a storm because Liam skipped town with Sophia. Apparently he left a note and just said he was in love and that he wanted to move on from this place with the love of his life." Zayn is so happy that everything worked out for his friend.

"Wow. I'm glad he realized that he shouldn't care about anyone else's opinion." Niall's happy for the both of them.

Louis watches the pair cautiously. "I'm going to go. Niall, don't forget to do that thing I told you to do."

"Okay." Niall watches Louis go and now she's anxious being all alone with Zayn.

"What thing is he talking about, love?" Zayn crawls onto the couch to snuggle up close to her. He buries his face in the crook of her neck as he holds her lovingly, hands resting on her stomach.

"Just about helping him study." Niall immediately cringes, moving his hands away.

Zayn doesn't notice, just making small circles on her hips with his fingers. "Mmkay." He lays there with her, content to just hold her.

\------------

Niall is pacing, doesn't know how she'll possibly tell her mum that she might be with child. Hopefully she'll remember that she was a teenager once.

Niall's in the waiting room of the clinic but she can't sit still, can't help how she's feeling.

"Niall Horan?" A nurse in a plain white uniform calls her name and smiles around looking for the patient.

She gets up, legs shaking and she's kind of terrified. She doesn't want to be pregnant, doesn't want to ruin Zayn's life. "I'm Niall."

The nurse smiles cheerfully. "Come on then. Let's have a look at what's wrong with you."

Niall plays with the hem of her shirt, trying to keep from freaking out. She takes a seat in the office, hands almost immediately resting on her stomach, protecting it.

"All right. What brings you in today? A fever? Maybe a small cough?" She's looking over the girl's record as she speaks.

"I've been getting sick in the mornings, no warnings and I usually feel fine afterwards." Niall says.

The nurse frowns. "When was your last check up?"

"A few months ago I think. I've also been eating a lot more, getting cravings for odd things."

"When was your last menstruation cycle?" The nurse asks a little bit more firmly.

"I'm a few weeks late." Niall's stomach is twisting the more they talk.

The nurse closes hers eyes in realisation. "Have you been sexually active within the last two months?"

"Yes, once." Niall looks at her lap, cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Right, I'm going to get the doctor. Just sit here, all right? We'll figure out what's wrong." She says with a sympathetic smile as she heads out the door.

Niall breathes out, shoulders slumping in defeat. She has a feeling things aren't going to go her way.

It's a good ten minutes before the nurse comes back, a sheepish smile on her face. "So, the doctor asked to have you pee in a cup for us so we can send it to a lab for hormone analysis."

Niall looks disgruntled, but nods. "Is this going to help at all?"

The nurse shrugs. "He thinks so. I mean it's pretty obvious that your pregnant, maybe six to eight weeks along. You've got at least another six till you start to show, possibly eight."

Niall chokes on her spit, heart freezing in her chest. "Are you sure? Are you positive?"

"Technically I'm not allowed to give my medical opinion, but from one girl to another, I'm ninety nine percent sure you're pregnant."

"Oh my God." Niall sits back in her chair, arms wrapping around her midsection.

\------------

Niall leaves her bedroom, after spending most of the day hiding away from her family and boyfriend. She's scared, really scared, trying to escape to the kitchen without being noticed. She just wants to hide for the rest of her life.

Maura is in the kitchen when she enters. "Hello, darling. Where have you been all day? Haven't seen Zayn over in a while either. Figured you were out with him."

"Oh uh, no he's been busy. I've just been in my room." She opens the refrigerator, finding strawberries and pickles.

"That's... That’s a horrid combination. Why would you even think those would taste good together?" Maura asks as she watches her daughter.

"They both taste good separately. Do we have whipped cream or peanut butter?" Either sounded good, maybe both.

Maura looks at her daughter strangely. "Is this what you plan on eating when you and Zayn have an apartment together off campus?"

That's the last thing Niall wants to talk about, doesn't know how to tell her mum that it won't be happening. "Dunno."

"Hey, what's wrong. You're so... Down today. Are you getting sick?" Maura asks concerned.

"Mum..." Niall knows she'll have to tell her eventually, she can't exactly hide a child.

"Maura! I'm home!" Bobby's voice calls out at the front door opens and closes.

"Do you want to talk to just me or your father too?" Maura says quietly as she gets up and heads towards her daughter.

"It would probably be best if you both heard it." Niall finds the jar of peanut butter stashed away, unscrewing the lid.

Maura nods. "Living room, darling." She smiles and kisses Niall's hair before sending her to said room and going to greet her husband.

Bobby smiles and kisses his wife, hanging both his coat and hat up. "Hi, darling. How are you?"

"Good. Niall wants to talk to us. She's waiting in the living room." She kisses him again and holds him tight. She hates being away from him during the day.

"Do you have any idea what it's about?" Bobby asks curiously, wrapping his arm around her waist.

She shakes her head and rests her head against his chest. "She seems fidgety and nervous though, so show her comfort and support."

"I think I'll manage." He jokes dryly, finally heading into the living room and greeting his daughter with a kiss to her forehead.

Maura takes a seat on the sofa next to her daughter and wraps a protective arm around her. "So what did you want to tell us, lovely?"

Niall doesn't want to drag it out, just wants to get it over with. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Maura doesn't mean to say that out loud. "Sorry, sorry."

Bobby just blinks a few times and frowns. "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?"

"I went to the doctor and he ran some tests. I'm pregnant." Niall repeats her words.

Maura wraps her up and pulls her close. "Oh, Niall. When did you even become sexually active? Did he force you or pressure you? I thought you said you weren't ready."

"No! No I told him I wanted to. He kept asking if I was sure and I told him I was. It was only once, but afterwards I talked to Louis and he started asking about contraception, I don't even know what that is." Niall has tears in her eyes.

Maura holds her close and looks over towards Bobby. She pleads for him to say something, anything.

"Contraception is ways of making sure you can't get pregnant. They're all banned in Ireland including condoms unless there's a medical reason." Bobby says as he gets up from his chair moves to sit next to her on her other side. "Hey, don't worry. We're not angry. How did Zayn react?"

"I'm not going to tell him." Niall's done a lot of thinking, she knows Zayn is just as much responsible for this baby as she is but she's wealthy and can go to college whenever, this is Zayn's only chance though.

"Niall, you have to tell him. He's going to be fathering a child. He needs to start looking at better paying jobs. What about the factory? They hire anyone." Maura says.

Bobby nods. "Yeah. He needs to get a better job and be able to support you. Hopefully there will be a wedding soon enough too. Instead of paying for college, I'll be paying for a wedding."

"You guys don't understand. Zayn has so much potential, he can do so much with his life. I won't tell him about the baby and he'll go to college and make something of himself."

"But what about the baby? Do you expect me to pay for him to go to school when he should be here taking care of his family?" Bobby says incredulously.

"Bobby, it makes sense." Maura says softly. "If he goes to college, he can find an even better job than a factory worker. Think of it as an investment in your grandchild's future."

"Exactly! It'll be better, we won't be struggling to pay bills or anything. Just pay the tuition, tell the school to tell Zayn he's received a full ride scholarship for his test scores and essay." Niall squeezes her mum's hand, glad she understands.

Bobby sighs, but nods. "What are you going to tell him when you give birth on campus? You can't hide this forever."

"I'm not going to go to college right now. I'll go later and if he finds out about the baby I'll tell him it's someone else's."

Maura frowns. "Don't do that. That's ridiculous. Tell him it's somebody else's? That paints the picture of being unfaithful."

"You guys don't understand. Zayn has so much potential, he can do so much with his life. I won't tell him about the baby and he'll go to college and make something of himself."

\------------

Niall fixes the cap on her head, fingers curling into fists. She feels nauseous, she's going to have to tell Zayn soon, going to have to break both of their hearts and she's not sure she can handle that.

Louis creeps closer to the blonde before he finally reaches out and throws his arms around her. "We made it! We actually can graduate!"

Niall smiles and relaxes when she realises it's Louis. "Yeah, finally."

"When do you and Zayn leave? We need to have one last night out. Booze, cigarettes, and tears. You all going off to Ireland and El and me getting married." Louis says softly. He still hasn't asked Eleanor yet, but he hopes to god she'll say yes.

"Louis..." She turns around in his arms and looks at the ground, "I'm pregnant."

His eyes widen before zeroing in on her stomach. He hesitatingly reaches out before letting his hand rub gently over what he had assumed was a bump from just eating a large lunch. "That's... That's Zayn's kid? Have you told him?"

"No, I haven't... And I'm not going to." Niall sighs and looks back up at him.

Louis puts it all together quite quickly and nods. "It's mine then. If he ever finds out, it's mine. I won't let him ruin this for himself." He whispers softly.

Niall's eyes widen. "Are you sure? Zayn is going to think I cheated, he won't talk to either of us."

"He'll know it's all a lie when he comes back from university and sees the baby. I'm sure it'll look like him." Louis says with a small smile. "I... I'll have to let Eleanor know. I'm going to ask her to marry me, she has to know."

"Of course, I don't want to ruin a relationship." That's the last thing she wants to do.

"Line up! Come on, everyone. Line up in alphabetical order. Girls on the left, boys on the right." One of the advisors is saying as she tries to order the lines.

Louis smiles softly. "I'll see you after. We'll all go out after this thing."

"Right." Niall watches Louis go to his side and she sighs.

Zayn watches as Niall gets her diploma and switches her tassel around. All in all, it's a pretty short ceremony and when it's all over, he quickly makes his way over to her and picks her up to twirl her. "We did it! Niall, I'm so happy right now! I didn't think I would ever graduate, let alone Louis!"

Niall smiles softly, her heart hurting in her chest. She doesn't know how she's going to do this. "I knew you would."

He kisses her then and there, passionately and intensely. "God, and now I get to go to university with you."

Niall kisses him, hands on his jaw and she wonders if the heat pooling low is a side effect of being pregnant. "I want to celebrate, I want you in me."

His pupils dilate in lust and he moans softly. "Later, I promise. For now, we're going out with Louis. He's going to propose."

Niall whines softly, tugging on his robe. "Then tell Louis to hold off, your car has a backseat."

Zayn laughs as he covers her hands with his own. "If by backseat, you mean the bed of the truck where everyone could and would see us. Just hold on, babe. I promise I'll fuck you so good tonight."

Niall sighs and buries her face in his chest. "You're insufferable."

"But you love me," he leans in and kisses her softly before resting their foreheads together. "Come on, Louis will kill us if we're late."

"Fine, fine." Niall laces their fingers together and let's him lead her.

They make it to the diner and find the two seated at a table already. They join them and soon enough, it's laughter and memories that they'll all have to leaves behind soon.

Eleanor laughs lightly as Louis finishes his story. "So when do you two leave for Ireland?"

"A month." Niall squeezes Zayn's fingers, she won't be going and that thought alone makes her nauseous.

"That reminds me. I got a letter from the school. My essay was loved by the whole administration and earned me a full ride scholarship. I get to go to university for free." Zayn says sheepishly.

Louis smiles brightly. "Congrats! That's amazing news!"

Niall kisses his cheek, smiling softly. It felt wrong lying to him. "I knew you would do well."

Eleanor grins. "That's awesome! How'd your parents take it?"

"Mum was excited. Dad... Dad is still pretty angry that I'm even going. He wants me home and working the factory in case something happens to him." Zayn says with a shrug.

Louis nods. "I understand. My mum is pressuring me to get married."

Niall doesn't understand, mostly because of the background she came from. "I'm just glad you're doing what you want."

Louis smiles softly. "Speaking of doing you want," he gets up and pulls Eleanor to her feet. "Eleanor, you've made everything about these last few years amazing for me. You've put up with all my shit and never once asked me to change. You get me, and I love you for that. I love you a lot."

"I love you too?" Eleanor's eyebrows pull together, waiting for Louis to continue.

He pulls his grandmother's old engagement ring from his pocket and holds it up so she can see it. Getting down on one knee, he blushes as he realises he's actually doing this. "Eleanor, beautiful El, would you do me the honour of marrying me?"

Eleanor's jaw drops, staring at Louis kneeling on the ground in front of her. "Of course I will."

Louis lights up and slips the ring on her left hand before standing and kissing her passionately. The entire restaurant is clapping and cheering.

Zayn is smiling brightly, squeezing Niall's knee underneath the table. "That'll be us one day. I promise."

Niall doesn't say anything, just starts to quietly eat her meal when it arrives.

\------------

Zayn had just finished his final shift at his job and was feeling pretty good about life. He was pretty much packed for his flight next week and all that was left was spending every moment he could with Niall and the new Tomlinson couple.

Pulling his keys from his pocket, he unlocks the Horan's door and strides in. He greets Maura and Bobby before heading up the stairs to his girlfriend's room. "Niall? Babe?"

Niall's standing in front of her mirror without her shirt on, hands rubbing over the small barely there bump. "I can't believe there's a baby in there."

"Niall?" Zayn is standing in her doorway, watching her stroke her stomach. "Did you just say there's a baby in there?"

Niall freezes, every muscle in her body tenses and she swears her heart stops beating for a fraction of a second. "No, no I... No."

"Yes, you did. You said there's a baby in in there. Oh my god, it's our baby." He strides forward and runs his hand over her stomach. "Our baby..."

"Zayn..." Niall's voice is small, watching him caress her belly. It makes her feel sick.

Zayn's eyes stay transfixed on her bump and he kneels down in front of her, kissing it lightly. "I love you so much, Niall. I knew I would have my family with you. I need to get a better job. I need to actually start working so I can provide for you two."

"You need to go to college." Niall whispers fiercely. This is her last shot at saving them both from heartbreak.

"I can't take care of you from college. Niall, you and this baby are my life. Would college be nice? Yeah, but you two need me now."

Niall swallows the bile stuck in her throat, hands latching onto his. She feels dizzy and nauseous, but she has to do this. "It's not yours."

He laughs thinking she's playing a mean joke. "Haha. Very funny. Of course it's mine."

"You were always at work, too busy to notice. I was drunk and lonely, Louis was there and we... We had sex a few times." Niall wants him gone, wants him to hate her.

His smiles falters. "Louis wouldn't do that to me... He knows how much I love you." Although, it would explain their sudden closeness. "Please... Please tell me this is a horrible joke."

"I'm not joking. I've been meaning to break up with you... I think of Louis every time we have sex."

Zayn stares up at her, breathing starting to turn erratic. He can feel the tendrils of a panic attack setting in. "I... Niall, please don't do this. I love you so much. W-we can move past this. I love you too much."

"Zayn, I want to break up." Niall can barely speak, can't believe that he'd be willing to work through her 'cheating' on him multiple times.

He can't help the said whimpering sound he makes before he gets to his feet. He turns his back to her and nods. "If that's what you want, fine. I'll just..." He digs into his pockets and pulls her house key out before dropping it on the floor. "Bye, Niall."

Niall doesn't say anything, she can't say anything. Her arms cross waiting for him to go, this was for the best.

He leaves, quickly and quietly. He won't make a fuss where he's clearly not wanted. He's out the door before anything else can be said or done.

Niall sobs, sinking down onto the ground. There went her heart.

\------Four Years Later------

Yaser parks in the driveway, looking over at his son in the passenger seat. It was almost silent the entire ride, awkward tension hanging in the air. "It's nice to have you home, Zayn."

Zayn nods. "Yeah. Can't wait to see the girls. It's been so long."

"Four years." Yaser says and if there's a slight bitterness in his voice he doesn't try to mask it.

"Yup. Had an amazing time. Grew a lot as a person." Zayn says happily.

"You're back now though." And that's all that matters, the sooner Zayn gets to work the better.

"And I'll be in London in a week." Zayn says gleefully. He's so excited to start the job he had applied for.

"What are you talking about?" Yaser turns in his seat, concern obvious.

Zayn shrugs like it was no big deal. "I have a job lined up in London. I'm going to be a journalist for a London paper."

"I thought you were going to work at the factory." Yaser frowns.

"I have a college degree. I can be whatever I want. I'm not going to a factory." Zayn doesn't get why his dad can't see this.

"Damn it, Zayn!" Yaser growls and hits his fist against the steering wheel. "Why can't you be more like Louis?"

Zayn frowns. He hasn't heard that name in four years. He's tried not to think about the hurt and betrayal, but that's harder to block out. "Because I'm not going to fuck his bird behind his back. I never, ever, want to be like Louis."

Yaser rolls his eyes. "If you were more like Louis then Niall wouldn't have slept with him behind your back."

"I can't listen to this." Zayn says angrily. He doesn't think he can stay in the car another minute if this is how he was going to talk to him.

"Listen to what, the truth? She's slept with half the town after you left." The rumors around the city had been wild when word had spread about Niall and Louis.

Zayn shakes his head and gets out of the car angrily. He slams his door before opening the back one and grabbing all his stuff. He can't listen to this.

"You could've had a family with her if you had stayed." Yaser leans back in his seat.

Zayn is inside, running up to his room and slamming the door. He throws all of his stuff to the ground, anger suddenly filling him. He looks around his room and wants all traces of her gone.

Notes and letters from her litter his walls and rips them all off. His drying flower from prom? Thrown across the room. The picture of them in London? Shattered and torn. He can't take this.

"What is going on?" Trisha comes to Zayn's room at the sound of commotion and things breaking.

Zayn opens the door and just collapses on his mother. He buries his face in her neck and cries. He has all these pent up tears from four years ago, and his father finally managed to break him.

Trisha is startled, wrapping her arms around his son, palm rubbing circles into his back between his shoulder blades. "Baby."

"Why wasn't I enough? I just don't understand. I thought we were perfect for each other." Zayn says quietly after he gets his emotions under control.

"I don't know, baby. I wish I knew, but I don't." She kisses the crown of his head, sighing.

He pulls back, trying to calm himself down. "Did Eleanor still marry him? I can't believe she would."

"They're married with four kids, Zayn." Cute kids too, but she's not going to say that.

He shakes his head. "I need to talk to her. I just can't believe she's happy about this."

"If you feel like you need to." Trisha lets go of her son, looking around at the mess.

"Eleanor won't lie to me. I need to know how she can be so happy with him." Zayn says softly.

"Then do it." She kisses Zayn's forehead, starting to pick up the mess.

\------------

Zayn nervously drummed his fingers on the table. He was currently at the only diner in town and seated by himself at a table for six. He had called Eleanor up to try and talk to her, but she suggested lunch while Louis was at work. He agreed and after realised that meant she'd have the kids. It was going to be interesting.

Eleanor smiles at the man who holds the door open while she pushes a double baby stroller in, making sure the twins are holding onto the bars to keep them close. 

"Zayn!" She grins and parks the stroller, getting both of them out and putting them into high chairs before helping the twins sit in their booster seats.

He can't help the smile that breaks out across his face at her entrance. "Jesus. You raising an army? There's so many of them!" He stands and hugs her tightly.

Eleanor laughs. "The twins are James and Jacqueline, this little one is Alexander, the itty bitty one is Melanie, and the baby in my stomach is Emilia."

He shakes his head in disbelief. "Louis always did want a huge family. He's got five kids with a sixth on the way." He pulls her chair out for her and pushes it in before taking his own seat.

"He has four kids with a fifth on the way." She corrects, flipping the menu open.

"Did he walk out on his oldest then?" Zayn asks, trying for indifference. He knows that they met up to talk about it, but he still likes to pretend it doesn't hurt him.

It takes Eleanor a minute to realize what he's talking about. "You mean Will, Niall's kid."

He nods. "Yeah. His and Niall's kid. It was a boy? Didn't know that. Didn't know his name either."

"He's not Louis' kid." Eleanor isn't going to lie to him, besides he's finished college he should get to know.

"Oh? Was there someone else she was seeing behind my back? Harry maybe?" He doesn't know why Eleanor feels the need to cover up her husband's mistakes.

"Zayn, Will is your son. Niall didn't sleep with Louis or anyone else for that matter."

He laughs humourlessly as he looks over at the perfect mixtures of Louis and Eleanor. "She told me it was his kid. I even said that we could move past it. If I was willing to move on, why did she continue to lie?"

"She wanted you to go to college. She always talked about how successful you were going to be but she knew you wouldn't have gone when she was pregnant. Tell me, did you two ever use a condom?" Eleanor asks.

Zayn looks at the table. "Every time except the very first one. The first the was spontaneous and neither of us were expecting it."

"Was it prom? Niall got sick not long after. God Zayn she's so in love with you she was willing to raise a child alone so that you could go and make something of yourself." Niall still talked so fondly about Zayn.

"She should have just told me. We could have gotten married and started our family. I would have worked at the factory, but I still would have had her." Zayn says frustrated with everything already.

"Look at it this way, you'll get to do what you love and won't be living paycheck to paycheck." Eleanor understands why he's annoyed, she can see both sides.

"She's probably found someone else. Dad was saying some pretty terrible things about her when I got home the other day." Zayn says dejectedly.

"Rumours, I'm guessing. People found out that Niall 'cheated' on you with Louis. They've been saying horrible things about her since, I wouldn't believe a lick of it."

Zayn sits up a bit straighter at that. "Really? Is she... Is she single still then?"

"Yeah, she has been." Eleanor smiles at the waitress when comes back with her order starting to cut some pancakes up for three of her four kids.

He sits there for a few minutes, contemplating his waffles. "Does she still live with her parents?"

"She lives down the street from them so her mum can help out." Eleanor's been over enough times.

"Right..." Zayn forces himself to eat his waffles slowly. He just to run and go find her, but that would be rude to Eleanor. "So how are you and Louis? Obviously you've been a bit busy."

"We don't see much of each other right now, he's been working overtime and I've taking care of these four."

"He works overtime? Why? You guys need some time together." Zayn says sadly.

"We have five kids, Zayn. Even with overtime we barely make rent." Eleanor shrugs, helping Alexander eat his hash brown.

Zayn shakes his head. "He should have applied to university with me. He could be doing so much more than factory work."

"Can't really do that, he didn't have anyone pay his tuition." Eleanor shuts her mouth once she says it.

"What are you talking about? No one paid my tuition. The university did. I had a full ride scholarship." Zayn doesn't like this whole situation. He feels left out on a lot of things.

"You're right, sorry." Eleanor turns to her children trying to talk to them instead.

Zayn frowns. "El, I know you're lying. Please. Just tell me. You're the only one who I believe anymore." His whole world and everything he thought he knew is turning out wrong.

"Niall paid your tuition. She just told the school to tell you that you got a scholarship." Eleanor sighs.

The blinks a few times and looks over at Louis' children. They're all so innocent and young and he never wants them to grow up and have to deal with shit like this. "I... I have to go. I need to talk to her." He flags the waitress down for the check.

"Alright." Eleanor looks over as the waitress approaches them.

Zayn smiles brightly and slips the girl fifty quid. "Keep the change, darling." He gets up and shrugs his coat on before kissing Eleanor's hair. "I'll be sure to come round soon."

"Zayn, just... Will is going to be there." Eleanor isn't sure how Zayn will take to meeting his son.

"I'll have to meet him sooner or later. Besides, this will ensure I don't yell." He says with one last smile. "Thank you. I hope you and the kids enjoy your day."

"Yeah, I'll see you around." Eleanor says her goodbyes and watches Zayn leave.

\------------

"Will! Baby, you can't do that." Niall sighs and kneels down next to the toddler where he colored on one of the walls with the purple crayon. She kisses his hands and tries directing him towards the paper on the ground.

The three year old pouts and looks to his mother sadly. "It's too small. I need the wall."

"I can get you bigger paper, love." She quickly gets a rag and comes back starting to scrub at the doodles.

William nods and just continues to scribble on the paper his mother laid out for him.

It's quiet until there's a knocking on the front door. "I get it, mommy!"

"Okay." Niall watches him go to the front door standing not too far behind him.

Zayn looks up as the door is opened, frowning until he realises what's going on and looks down. He crouches down, smiling. "Hi there. My name is Zayn. What's yours, buddy?"

"I'm Will!" He grins up at the man turning around to look at his mummy.

Niall's frozen, she never thought Zayn would be standing on her porch. "Zayn... What are you doing here?"

Zayn looks up at her and slowly gets up. "I think it's time we had a talk. No more lying, yeah?"

"Lying?" Niall has a feeling she knows what he's talking about, opening the door further to allow him in.

"I don't think we should be having this talk in front of Will. My son doesn't need to know any of this just yet." Zayn says quietly as he steps inside.

Niall nearly swallows her tongue, but picks Will up kissing his head. "Think it's time for a nap, sweetheart. You look knackered."

"But I was drawing, mommy." Will pouts as he carried up the stairs.

Zayn moves into the living room and looks over pictures of his son and Niall while he waits for her to return.

It only takes twenty minutes for Will to fall asleep before Niall comes back down, shaking.

The male hears her coming and turns around to see her for the first time in four years. He wants to run and embrace her, kiss her for all the days they've missed together. "Why did you lie to me?"

"You wanted to go to college." Niall looks at her feet, frowning deeply. She did it for him and she tells him this.

"Where does he think I've been for the last four years? Why did you lie to me about a scholarship?" Zayn is so hurt and angry. He doesn't get why she would do this. "When did you decide that you should dictate how my life would end up?"

"Zayn, please." Niall didn't want this, didn't want him to be upset. She wanted him to understand just how much she loved him and still does. "He just thinks you've been away. I tell him that you're just preparing things to be a good dad."

He looks at her. "I would have stayed. We could have been married by now. Had a nice big family like Louis and Eleanor. Will would have had a father. I just want to know why you sent me off when you know I would have done anything for you and our son."

"And what? Live off my parents, live paycheck to paycheck? So you could be another Malik statistic? You said you didn't want that, always talked about it. I wasn't just going to fuck that up. You've become something, Zayn. You can properly support Will now! You can do things no one else can, you can have your family and be successful." Niall isn't sure if he'll want her back but she knows he'll be their for their son and that's what she's been holding onto for four years.

"I'm not even going to be here!" Zayn snaps at her. "I'm leaving Leeds in four days. I'm expected in London for a six day a week newspaper job. How am I supposed to see my son when I live two or three hours away? What am I supposed to do? Have you two move to London with me?"

"If that's what you want. Zayn, I'm willing to do anything for you." She means it, she's willing to do absolutely anything.

He just stops and stares at her. She still loves him after four years apart. He had expected her to have moved on, married some soc, and made a life for herself. Hearing her say that though flips something in him.

He walks towards her, crowding her against the wall. He looks down at her before forcefully kissing her. "I'm still really pissed off that you lied to me." He grabs her waist and digs his fingers into the warm skin there, moaning against her mouth at the feeling of her.

Niall's arms automatically go around his neck, joining their lips together while one of her ankles locked behind the back of his knee. "Show me how mad you are."

He nods and kneels down in front of her, pushing her skirt up and kissing at her thighs. "You need to stay quiet. Don't need Will to wake up and see this." He continues to kiss and bite at her inner thigh as he lets his hand slip inside her underwear and begins rubbing at her.

Niall moans softly, grabbing at his wrist to stop him. "Zayn, it's... It's been four years since anyone has done this to me."

"Been four years since I've done this for anyone." Zayn says as he looks up at her. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No, I just want you to know it's only been you and will only be you." Niall let's go of his hand after that and smiles.

He smiles softly and continues to rub at her, wanting to make this good for her. He bites a bit harder at her thigh, wanting to bruise and mark her. He moves her underwear to the side and lets his mouth find her centre.

"Zayn." The way Niall says it is breathless and quiet, her fingers clinging to the flat wall and trying to hold onto something.

His tongue drags across her lips, up to her clit, and licks lightly at the nub of nerves. He'd forgotten how great she tasted and how she always tasted so sweet. He sucks her clit between his lips and lavishes it with his tongue and slight suction.

"Zayn, stop, just, fuck." Niall can't even form a coherent sentence, can't form the words to tell him what she really wants.

His fingers find her entrance coaxing the muscles there to relax before he gets two fingers inside her. His mouth is still loving on her and paying her attention and trying to get her taste all over him.

Niall is really glad she's a female because she can't hold out any longer, can't stop before she's orgasming, but she wants more.

Zayn pulls back and looks up at her. "I missed you." He pulls his fingers from inside and places one last kiss to her centre before standing up. "Come on. I think we need to discuss your move to London."

Niall whines softly, tugging on Zayn's arm. "Can't we talk about that when I'm good and fucked out?"

He laughs lightly as he steps back from her, putting a little distance between them. "That's all you're getting for now. I'm still mad at you, I'm not risking getting you pregnant again till we're married, and it's been so long that I embarrassingly creamed my boxers."

Niall sighs and stamps her bare foot against the carpet like a child. "I'll just take care of myself then, I've got a vibrator upstairs."

He grabs her wrist and holds it tightly. "Nope. You waited four years, you can wait another few months." He pulls her close and heads over towards the couch with her. "Besides, you need to tell me all about Will."

\------Four Months Later------

Niall is wiping away the last of her tears once the marriage license is signed and she can just relax and enjoy the rest of the wedding. It's beautiful, Zayn had been able to afford an amazing venue and everything just looked perfect. Her dress slightly drags behind her as she makes her way towards the head table.

Zayn is laughing at something Louis had said as Will climbs up into his lap. He holds the boy close and smiles up at his wife as she joins them. "I knew inviting the Tomlinson children would be trouble."

The twins are out on the dance floor creeping low to the floor as they duck and weave through people's legs. "They apparently are on a secret mission from MI6."

"As long as they don't break anything." Niall smiles watching them. Will has turned out to be more reserved, just like his father really.

"Daddy, colour." Will says softly as he yawns into Zayn's tuxedo.

Zayn holds the boy tightly before passing him off to Maura who loves playing the doting grandmother. He takes Niall's hand as she sits down. "I would say that their father has them under control, but I think he's actually the boss at MI6."

Niall laughs and shrugs. "I don't think I mind too much. It helps that they're all adorable."

"Niall!" Eleanor slowly makes her way up to the head table with the newest Tomlinson bundle in her arms and Melanie clinging to the skirt of her dress. "Congratulations! It only took forever!"

Niall stands and uses one arm to hug her. "I know, I know, but at least it's happened! She's beautiful."

Eleanor beams. "Thank you. Hopefully I'll get a break before Louis tries to knock me up again. I love him dearly, but this big family thing is killing me."

"Tell him to calm down then. Make him wait." Speaking of children Niall really needs to talk to Zayn.

"Yeah, but look at how happy he is. He loves them so much." All she can do is smile until Melanie tugs on her dress and points to where William is colouring.

"Colour with Will?" She asks quietly.

"Will loves coloring with others. I'm sure he'll share with you." Niall watches Eleanor lead her towards Will and figures this is as good as time as any, needs to do this before anyone else grabs her attention.

She finds her husband in a conversation with one of newspaper buddies. "Zayn? I need to talk to you."

Zayn turns from where he's talking to a coworker, smiling at his bride. He excused himself from the conversation and heads away from the hustle and bustle of the party. "What's wrong? Everything okay?"

"It's great, beautiful." Niall kisses him and runs her fingers through his long hair. "I just have some news for you and I don't know how you'll take it."

Zayn frowns, but keeps her close. "What's the news then?"

"I'm pregnant." Niall smiles and looks at the tiny, barely there stomach she's sporting.

He pulls away from her, looking down at her stomach. He rests a hand against her tiny, tiny bump. He looks up at her with a huge smile. "I'll be there this time."

Niall kisses him again, she loves him so much. "I know you will, I'm just glad you're excited."

"Of course I'm excited! I want a big family. Nowhere near as big as Louis', but at least three kids." Zayn says with a shrug. He honestly is looking forward to being with her throughout the whole thing.

Niall laces their fingers together resting her head on his chest. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kisses her hair. "Come on. Let's get back inside. I think there's some sort of party going on."

Niall nods and let's Zayn lead her inside, squeezing his hand in hers.

"Oh, William, no!" Maura says loudly as she tries to pry the crayon from his grip. There's purple and red crayon all over the walls.

Niall just laughs and rolls her eyes. "I'll go find a rag if you want to handle Will."

Zayn chuckles and shakes his head. Heading over to his son, he picks the boy up and gives him the best stern look he can muster. "William, what did you just do?"

Will points and giggles. "I drew me, you, mommy, grammy and mammy. Don't you like it?"

Zayn sighs as he watches Niall start to scrub the crayon from the wall. "I love it, bud, but what has mommy and I told you about colouring and drawing on walls?"

"I didn't have any big paper!" Will sighs, pouting as he watches his hard work disappear.

Zayn kisses his hair and snaps his fingers to get his son to pay attention to him instead of the now wet wall. "Hey. Listen to me. I'm going to make you a deal, yeah? You love art and drawing and finger painting. If you stop drawing on walls, I'll put you in some art classes. Sound good?"

Will's face lights up. "Okay! No more drawing on walls! I'll be good, daddy, I promise!"

He kisses the boy's hair and holds him as Niall makes her way over to them. "All taken care of, mommy. It won't happen again."

Niall sighs and kisses Will's cheek smiling at him. "You're just lucky I love you so much."

Will smiles brightly and hugs his mother from his perch in his daddy's arms. He's so happy his family is finally together.


End file.
